


Danganronpa: Duality

by ShortcakeCrow



Series: Danganronpa: Dichotomy [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fan Dangan Ronpa, Fluff, Gen, Gore, Humor, Illustrated, Mystery, Violence, idk what tags to add oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 47
Words: 228,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11011149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShortcakeCrow/pseuds/ShortcakeCrow
Summary: 16 students trapped on a ship is already worrying by itself - add a pair of stuffed animals trying to make them kill each other, and you've got a whole different level of trouble.Will they manage to find hope during this twisted killing game? Or will they be consumed by despair?As a wise cat once said, 'May you all have a wonderful time!'You may find a video I made specifically for the story here [contains major spoilers]: https://youtu.be/INsJDpSZM6A





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> edit: hello this is ur friend crow coming to inform u about the contents of the fic  
> you can find the main story in chapters 1-29  
> chapter 30 is a collection of unused executions and u should prolly avoid it if u dont wanna be spoiled on who doesnt end up killing people  
> from chapter 31 onwards are fte-chapters that go by the traditional danganronpa fte format, and each one will be dedicated to a specific character (again, avoid these because they spoil the mastermind pretty much right away)

The first time he opened his eyes, he thought he might have been dreaming - the unfamiliar surroundings and the stranger leaning over him certainly made him feel like it -, but the feeling of hands grasping at his shoulders as he was shook awake told him otherwise. Sleepily blinking his eyes, he sat up slowly, not bothering to fix his lopsided glasses.

The girl who’d been staring at him with a worried look in her eyes let out a sigh of relief, her posture relaxing a little upon seeing him awake. Head still somewhat foggy, he stifled a yawn as he examined the girl carefully, searching his memory to figure out if he’d seen her before.

Her appearance seemed to be quite neat; her beige uniform had to have been ironed rather thoroughly as there were barely any folds on it, and the white hairband she had on contrasted with her straikaght, black locks. Once he spotted her thick glasses, he inwardly chuckled; he didn’t think he’d meet anyone with worse sight than him anytime soon.

“Uhm… are you feeling okay?”

Oh. That was directed at him. He gave a small nod; aside from the drowsiness, which wasn’t rare for him anyway, he wasn’t feeling particularly strange. On the other hand… now that he was a little more awake, he was finally starting to wonder about his situation. He was in a tiny room with dim lighting - in fact, he had to doubt if it was a room at all and not some kind of wooden box, as the only sources of light were the small cracks along the sides of it. How did he end up in this situation…?

“Uhm…”

His attention was diverted back to the girl as she nervously adjusted her glasses.

“May I ask your name?”

“My name…” he brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. “I’m Hanamiya Takashi. What about you?”

“I’m Fujinomiya Kotori,” she replied politely, hesitating a little before continuing. “Are you… a Super High School Level student as well?”

That phrase gave his memory the push it needed, and he suddenly recalled what he’d been trying to remember.

* * *

 

He woke up late as usual - that was to be expected, he always managed to sleep through his alarms no matter how many he’d set. His mother didn’t seem too concerned; she was used to this happening almost every single day after all, so she patiently waited for him to come downstairs as usual so she could drive him to his first day at school.

He wondered if he should be nervous, perhaps - not only was he going to a new school, it was Hope’s Peak Academy of all places. It would be full of other Super High School Levels, and he was certain that studying there would be… an experience, to say the least. Even with that, though, he simply couldn’t find it in himself to worry in the slightest - he didn’t even do any research on his classmates, figuring that he could just find things out as he talked to them.

As he stepped in front of the gate, that didn’t change. He was feeling a bit sleepy, if anything, and rubbed his eyes as he walked up to the entrance, opening the door. As soon as he took a step inside, though, everything around him seemed to blur, and he felt himself grow unusually lightheaded, gradually losing consciousness.

* * *

 

…

“I’ll assume the ‘as well’ part means you’re one too,” he waited for her to nod before he resumed speaking. “I’m the Super High School Level Voice Actor.”

Anxiously playing with her hair, she tilted her head slightly.

“I see… I- I’m the Super High School Vocalist, yes,” she cleared her throat, turning her head. “Do you perhaps know where we are…?”

“No idea,” he shrugged, sluggishly getting to his feet. The room… or whatever it was, was small enough that he could only take a couple of steps around, but he figured he should might as well examine what he could. “Someone is probably playing some kind of joke on us.”

“I hope it’s just that…” she stood up as well, following his example. “I’m kind of worried. The last thing I remember is passing out in front of the school before I woke up here…”

He made a low humming noise as he carefully ran his hand over the wood, wondering if he could just break it open. Probably not; it was pretty thick, and he wasn’t exactly strong.

“Same here. I wouldn’t worry much, though. I’ve seen weirder stuff.”

She opened her mouth, possibly to ask what he could have meant by that, when the ground suddenly began shaking, and she fell right over. Holding onto the wall, Hanamiya managed to somehow stay on his feet, but it wasn’t long before the floor opened up, causing them both to fall. He didn’t even have time to be startled, as he landed on some kind of mattress, his glasses slipping off his face before they could leave a lasting mark. That was probably for the best.

He sat up again, momentarily ignoring the panicked noises Fujinomiya was making to put his glasses back on, blinking slowly as he took in his surroundings. They have indeed been sitting inside a box, only to be dumped into some kind of hallway. The space wasn’t ridiculously big, but it was much better than the container they’d been in previously, and he breathed a sigh of relief once he spotted some other people nearby. Maybe they knew what was going on.

He stood up, holding out a hand for Fujinomiya to pull her to her feet, then gestured towards the others.

“Let’s go investigate.”

She drew her hand back, fidgeting instead, as though she wasn’t quite sure about that.

“But- what if they are the ones who brought us here?” she shrunk slightly, sending worried glances in every direction. He paused before shrugging once more; not like there was much else they could do.

“We could also sit around here, doing nothing, but I doubt that’d accomplish much.”

She hung her head slightly, dejected, most likely unable to argue with that.

“Okay then, let’s split up,” he announced, leaving no room for Fujinomiya to argue, and immediately turned around to march up to the closest person - a rather tall boy, peering out one of the circular windows. She probably wouldn’t be any safer around him anyway, and besides, the less people he was around, the better he’d be able to focus.

Once the other boy spotted him, he gave him a polite greeting, straightening his back - making him look even taller than before.

“Hi there,” he reached up to fiddle with the headphones hanging around his neck. “Since you arrived here the same way as us… you must be another one of my classmates. I’m Takahashi Yuki, by the way, nice to meet you.”

His mannerisms were the exact opposite of his messily thrown on clothes, and his hair seemed to ignore gravity, sticking up as if he’d spent a few hours of the morning emptying cans of hair spray onto it. Hanamiya wondered if he should ask him about that later.

“Hanamiya Takashi, voice actor. Nice headphones,” he tilted his head back slightly so he could properly look him in the eyes, but soon lowered it back down, too lazy to hold the position for so long. Takahashi seemed delighted by the compliment, and broke into a smile.

“Thank you! I like them a lot too,” he let his hands drop to his sides, already more relaxed than before. “Ah, my talent- I’m a violinist.”

Hanamiya nodded along.

“Did we just drop out of the sky, or did you see where we came from?”

Takahashi lifted his hand to point out some kind of trap door in the ceiling.

“Everyone’s come down from there as far as I know.”

“’Everyone’, huh…” Hanamiya looked around once again. “How many people is that?”

Takahashi smiled sheepishly, and Hanamiya could instantly tell he wasn’t counting. Well, that was fine, he’d find out soon hopefully anyway. Taking another step forward to look out the window, it took him a couple of seconds to register what he was seeing.

Water as far as the eye could see, and not even a hint of land in sight. Were they on some kind of ship? The floor wasn’t really moving, though… Strange.

“Well, I’m gonna go have a look around. You, uhm…” he looked Takahashi over before giving him a small pat on the shoulder. “You can stay here and go back to what you were doing.”

“O-oh, uhm, good luck!” Takahashi called after him, but he was already walking off.

Two sides of the hall were lined doors, each with nameplates on them - he recognised his own name on one of them. Whoever had sent them here was more than likely intending for them to stay at least the night. Maybe they were on some kind of trip, and the teachers wanted to scare them to get them to behave. He’d have no trouble believing that; the school was supposed to be quite unusual.

There were a few other rooms, a staircase that appeared to be locked, as well as a rather strange looking statue of what appeared to be two cats fighting over a fish. If they were on a ship, it was a pretty huge one. He headed towards the statue first, wanting to take a closer look, when someone suddenly bumped into him from behind.

“Whoops, sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

He turned around to see a guy in rather colorful clothes, thumbs hooked in his pockets. Found another one.

Before he could say anything else, Hanamiya quickly got to the point, figuring that the faster he finished the interactions the sooner he’d get to sit down again. Honestly, he wasn’t too fond of walking around so much.

“Give me a name and a talent,” he stifled a yawn, examining the other boy from head to toe. His white hat was sitting lopsided on his head, and the sleeves of his magenta jacket were rolled up to his elbows. Whenever he moved around, the chains hanging from his jeans quietly jingled.

“Well, you sure are straightforward,” the boy chuckled, not minding his attitude in the slightest. He held out a hand, flicking his hat slightly with his free one. “Kageyama Kazuma, Super High School Level Good Luck. Interpret that however you want.”

It seemed he’d already come across one of the stranger ones - what kind of talent was ‘good luck’ anyway?

Kageyama, as though reading his mind, continued almost immediately, drawing his hand back as Hanamiya didn’t seem like he was going to shake it.

“I was picked through a lottery. They do this every year, I think.”

“That’s kind of dumb,” Hanamiya stated bluntly, which got a laugh out of Kageyama.

“Eh, maybe. I won’t refuse a chance to study at Hope’s Peak, though.”

“Fair enough,” Hanamiya left it at that, leaning against the statue. “I’m Hanamiya Takashi, voice actor. Would you happen to know how we ended up here?”

“Nope, no idea. But I wouldn’t worry much if I were you. If this is a kidnapping, it’s a pretty chill one,” Kageyama gestured towards the cafeteria, eyes sparkling. “Did you see all the food they have? I’ll probably camp out in the kitchen later.”

They had plenty of food then… good. One less thing to worry about.

Hanamiya’s thought process was interrupted by a loud cry, though, and he turned his head just in time to see the tiniest girl charging towards them both, grabbing Kageyama by his collar.

“You left earlier while I was still talking, you know!” she attempted to shook him, perhaps to seem more intimidating, but she wasn’t exactly strong, and Kageyama only snickered at her attempts. Then again, he didn’t seem like the type to get worked up easily.

Hanamiya wondered for a moment if he should try to get her off, but the thought immediately disappeared when her gaze shifted to him, and she promptly let go of Kageyama with one of her hands to hold it out for Hanamiya.

“Yokoyama Hiromi, Super High School Level Attorney. And you?”

Hanamiya repeated his introduction, but Yokoyama cut him off mid-sentence as she reached for his hand to shake it herself.

“Geez, none of you have any manners here at all…” she huffed, wearing a scowl. Her uniform seemed to be of the fancy kind; she was wearing some kind of armband as well, and… high heels…? Perhaps she just wanted to look tall… or taller than she actually was, at least.

She turned back to Kageyama, possibly to give him a lecture, and Hanamiya took that as his cue to leave, sneaking away. She definitely wasn’t the type of person he wanted to hang around for long.

Quickly diving into the cafeteria before she could notice that he’d gone missing, he leaned against the wall with a small sigh. The room had quite a few tables, benches and chairs; a large group of people could fit very easily.

A small girl in a lavender uniform was sitting on one of the benches, occasionally taking a sip from a cup, seemingly not at all concerned by the current situation, only strengthening Hanamiya’s theory that they weren’t in any danger. As he walked up to her, she raised her head and spoke up.

“Before you even open your mouth; no, I’m not a girl, and no, I’m not a toddler.”

Oops.

At least he didn’t seem too annoyed about it; he was probably used to these sorts of things.

“I wasn’t going to call you a toddler, but okay,” Hanamiya lazily tilted his head, kind of tempted to sit down next to him - but he probably wouldn’t be able to stand up again if he sat down once, so he resisted. He could take a nap later. “Mind giving me a name?”

“Chiba Yuzuru,” the feminine boy replied, puffing his cheeks out slightly. “Sure you weren’t.”

“I’m not-“ Chiba cut him off with a wave of his hand, and Hanamiya went quiet. Arguing wouldn’t be worth the effort.

“Save the excuses; it’s no big deal. I’ve heard it so many times, I… honestly don’t care. Just give me your name.”

Hanamiya obliged, and Chiba visibly relaxed - probably feeling very thankful that he wasn’t going to insist on the topic. He finished whatever he’d been drinking, placing the now empty cup down.

“I’m the Super High School Level Judoka,” he leaned forward onto his hand; another unexpected quality, although Hanamiya supposed it did suit his attitude a lot more than his appearance. As he turned his head to the side, Hanamiya took notice of the plaster on his cheek.

“You don’t seem too worried about all of this,” Hanamiya mentioned nonchalantly, and Chiba snickered.

“As if you do. But yeah, I don’t really care. I can defend myself just fine, so if anything happens… just hide behind me or something.”

That was probably going to be very difficult with his tiny build, but Hanamiya kept his mouth shut.

“Oh, yeah, by the way,” Chiba snapped his fingers, as though he just remembered something. “There’s this really weird girl in the kitchen; I’d stay away from her if I were you. She seems like her mom dropped her on her head if you know what I mean.”

That was… most likely extremely rude, but it wasn’t like he had any idea of what Chiba was talking about. Maybe there really was something up with her. Either way, he’d see sooner or later.

“…I’ll take a look,” Hanamiya said, already taking a step back, and Chiba shrugged.

“You do you; I’ll be over here if you need me.”

Walking into the kitchen, Hanamiya wasn’t exactly surprised to see several of his classmates camping out, either munching on something already or preparing food and drinks for themselves. It did seem to be pretty decently sized, and the walls were lined with all kinds of equipment. Hanamiya wasn’t much of a cook, though, so he didn’t pay it too much mind.

First - the boy in the far corner, hiding behind his hoodie. He seemed like an introvert, and Hanamiya kind of wanted to procrastinate on talking to the more outgoing students. He was already feeling drained, regretting not sending Fujinomiya to look around by herself.

The boy seemed to be busy drinking tea; he didn’t even spare Hanamiya a single glance as he approached him, possibly trying to blend into the background as much as possible. Well, Hanamiya wouldn’t bother him for long anyway. He cleared his throat, only for the boy to slowly raise his head, giving him a tired look.

“What?”

His bangs messily hung over his violet eyes, and he was pale enough to resemble a ghost. Honestly… he kind of was like a ghost, hiding like that.

He was either having a really bad day, or he just had an attitude of the rude and blunt variety. Or… possibly both.

“Don’t mind me, I just need a name and a talent and I’ll be right gone,” Hanamiya pointed at the door over his shoulder, and the boy breathed a sigh.

“Nakajima Tooru, illustrator. You’re Hanamiya, yeah?” he didn’t really look like he was expecting - or wanted - a response, but Hanamiya nodded anyway.

“Yep, that’s me. Did research or something?”

“Unlike some people,” Nakajima rolled his eyes, tone a little irritated. Hanamiya was most definitely included in that, but he wasn’t going to try to defend himself. It was no secret that he couldn’t bother with these things; might as well make it clear from the start. “Now shoo, go talk to someone else. I want to think.”

Alright, fair enough. Nakajima had already gone back to staring off into the air, and Hanamiya walked off without saying anything else, only to end up elbowing someone right away. Should’ve probably checked where he was walking. As he turned around to apologise, he came face-to-face with a girl whose bangs fully covered her eyes, wearing some kind of dazed smile.

She was wearing a short, lilac dress with a pink ribbon in the middle, and a bell hung from her right ear as some sort of earring. She had flip flops instead of shoes, and she was quite tanned. Hanamiya had to wonder if this was the girl Chiba had warned him about once she leaned closer to his face, giggling to herself quietly.

“Hi there, stranger! Can Yui-tan help you?”

Yep, she more than likely was.

“Personal space, please,” he gently pushed her to get her to back off slightly, and she obediently took a step back. “Could I have your name and talent?”

She tilted her head to the side, smile widening slightly, and tapped her chin with her index finger.

“You could, but I’m not sure if you can. Maybe if you play a game with me beforehand, I’ll let you know!”

He had a feeling he really didn’t want to say yes to that game, whatever it was. Fortunately he didn’t have to respond, as another girl poked her head between them, holding a half-eaten croissant in one hand and a donut in the other.

“You won’t get any straight answers out of her, sorry. Her name is Komatsu Yui, though, I think. I overheard Nakajima-san over there having a long argument with her earlier,” she seemed amused by the memory; Hanamiya couldn’t imagine why. “No idea about her talent.”

Komatsu chimed in yet again, swaying from side to side slightly.

“Yui-tan likes to draw things! She usually draws places she sees in her dreams, and then people build them for her!”

So… an architect, maybe? That was the closest thing Hanamiya could think of, at least.

Her hands placed on Komatsu’s shoulders, the other girl gently pushed her aside - maybe so they could talk normally for a moment, Hanamiya wasn’t quite sure.

“By the way, by the way, I’m Sakurauchi Nao. Nice to meet you, Hanamiya-san!” she beamed, grabbing his hand with both of hers and shaking it enthusiastically.

The cat beanie she was wearing, as well as her golden eyes and catlike features made her resemble one of those cat maids Hanamiya had seen often times in Akihabara. The thigh highs were there as well; if only she was wearing a dress instead of shorts…

“You’re a voice actor, right?” she continued without giving him time to speak, her eyes sparkling upon remembering that particular fact. “You should voice act in one of my games sometime! I already have a really fitting character for you-“

Ah, he thought that name sounded familiar. She was a game developer. She was a lot more extroverted than he thought she would be… Somehow, he was a little less thrilled by the idea of hanging out with her now.

“Let’s postpone that conversation for now; I’d like to take a look around first. I haven’t checked everywhere yet,” he gave her a meaningful look, waiting for her to step out of the way, and she obliged without complaining.

“Oh, okay then. I’ll look for you later!” she waved as he left the kitchen, seemingly very excited by the plans she just made. Hopefully the next time she found him he’d be sitting down.

Next… the store, maybe. It was quite small, so it shouldn’t take long to investigate - was what he thought, but as soon as he took a step inside, he witnessed a somewhat bizarre scene.

The store was filled wall-to-wall with miscellaneous items - toys, plushies, tiny statues, books, comics, and many more -, leaving barely any room for people to walk around.

A girl with white hair and ripped leggings stood right in front of him, clearly on alert, holding what looked like a cheap, plastic sword in her hand. She must’ve found it here - unless she carried these things with her on a daily basis. Her back was turned to him, so Hanamiya couldn’t see her face, but her tone was enough for him to know that she must have been glaring.

“You- how dare you touch me like that, pitiful mortal?” Her voice was surprisingly deep considering her height. “If I wasn’t so merciful, I’d make you a sacrifice right here and now!”

The person she appeared to be glaring at was a boy in a long coat, wearing a pair of glasses and a simple, but elegant hat. He was leaning on a walking stick with a snake decoration circled around it, his hands covered in gloves, and he seemed somewhat clueless about what the girl was so upset about.

“Ah, did I perhaps offend you? I apologise, I was merely conducting a habitual examination,” he bowed his head slightly, but the girl didn’t seem reassured in the slightest.

“I’ll let you off this time, but I’m warning you, I won’t be this lenient the next time we cross paths,” she hissed before turning on her heels and pushing past Hanamiya, storming off without saying anything else.

As the other boy’s eyes settled on him, Hanamiya wondered if he should try to make a break for it as well, but figured it wouldn’t be worth the trouble when all the boy touched were his sides. Doing what seemed like a body check, the boy thoroughly tapped his sides down, then drew his hands back and dusted them off.

“Wonderful, your weight doesn’t seem to be of concern,” he smiled, satisfied with whatever he’d discovered. “Your posture appears to be somewhat worrying, but that should be an easy fix with a certain amount of exercise every day.”

Hanamiya let his own glasses slip forward slowly, and the boy reached forward to fix them for him.

“My name is Natsume Rintarou, by the way. I believe you are Hanamiya Takashi-kun? I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.”

Natsume held his hand out for Hanamiya to shake.

“Mhm, nice to meet you,” Hanamiya covered his mouth to stifle another yawn, and Natsume’s hand remained extended.

“I am the Super High School Level Herpetologist, but I believe I’m rather knowledgeable about biology in general,” he adjusted his glasses slightly with his other hand. “I believe prioritizing your health above all else is very important. As such, please do come to me if you’d like some advice regarding that.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll do that.”

He probably wouldn’t, but he didn’t feel like arguing. Instead, he pointed towards the exit.

“Who’s the girl that just left?”

“As I recall, her name was Aragaki Yuriko-san. She seems to have quite the temper,” Natsume remarked, apparently still under the belief that it was normal for people to tolerate that kind of touching without a word. Girls, at least…

“Thanks,” Hanamiya slowly glanced down at Natsume’s hand, before reaching out to shake it with a small sigh. “I’ll go walk around a little more, so… see you around, I guess.”

“Would you like me to come with?” Natsume called after him, but Hanamiya only quickened his pace.

“Nah, I’m good.”

He headed towards what seemed like a storage next - he stuck his head inside to find it full of boxes, some of them open, some of them half-empty. A girl in a cute, pink dress was sitting on top of one, a gas mask covering the lower half of her face, and a bunny hat on top of her head, the appearance of it resembling a decapitated plushie. She seemed a little creepy, reminding Hanamiya of some kind of horror manga character, and her piercing blue eyes somehow made her seem even more shady. She waited for him to approach her silently, swinging her legs back and forth.

As Hanamiya walked up to her, she held up a cellphone, rapidly tapping away on it then lifting her gaze again to stare at him expectantly. From the phone’s speakers, a cutesy, but robotic female voice sounded.

“Hello!”

Was she mute, or just too shy to speak? She didn’t seem especially nervous, so Hanamiya was leaning towards the former.

“Hi,” hands comfortably shoved into his pockets, he made eye contact without much trouble. “I’m Hanamiya Takashi, voice actor. You?”

The girl typed away on her phone again, and the same robotic voice spoke up.

“I’m Tsutsui Rena, nice to meet you,” she beamed, or at least Hanamiya thought she did - it was kind of hard to see what kind of expressions she was making with that mask on. “I’m a seamstress. Say, Hanamiya-chan, would you happen to know how we ended up here?”

“I’m kind of starting to doubt anyone does,” Hanamiya shrugged, and Tsutsui gave him a look of understanding.

They stood in silence for several more seconds, before Hanamiya cleared his throat.

“Right, we’ll talk more later.”

“Yes, we shall,” Tsutsui nodded in agreement, and gave him a small wave, sliding off the box to go back to searching - or whatever it was that she’d been doing. Hanamiya spared her one last glance, then stepped right back out.

The last place to check was the bath - he peered into the changing room carefully, not wishing to get punched by anybody who happened to be stripping, but the 2 people he found inside were fully-clothed, thank the heavens. They seemed to be having a rather in-depth conversation.

“So… if the changing room is unisex… does that mean everyone is allowed to change together?” the girl on the right placed a hand over her mouth, her scandalized tone the exact opposite of the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Or… eye, rather, seeing as how one of her eyes was covered by her hair. Not only was she wearing boots and multiple layers, she also had a scarf around her neck; Hanamiya wondered how she seemed to be perfectly fine despite that, with the heated temperature inside this particular room.

“I’m not sure if that would be such a good idea, Minamoto-san,” the boy next to her smiled nervously, and the girl - Minamoto, apparently, puffed her cheeks out a little. The boy was rather neatly dressed in shades of green and yellow, his blonde, wavy locks brushed to the side so they wouldn’t obstruct his view. He was startlingly attractive - some kind of model, maybe; Hanamiya didn’t dwell on that train of thought too much.

When they noticed him standing there, Minamoto grinned behind her hand.

“I think we already have our first volunteer, Izumi-kun.”

“Please stop saying things like that,” Izumi promptly placed his hand on top of hers to cover her mouth properly, successfully getting her to be quiet in the process, then giving Hanamiya an apologetic smile. “I’m not sure how much of that you’ve heard, but don’t mind her, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Minamoto removed his hand, giving his cheek a little pat with her free one.

“Aww, just let me joke a little…”

Izumi gave her a stern look, and she pouted like a displeased child.

“Anyway,” Izumi turned back to Hanamiya, clearing his throat. “This troublesome child’s name is Minamoto Setsuko. She’s a linguist. I suggest you avoid bringing up anything even remotely sexual around her because she seems to have a habit of lingering on those topics.”

Well, that was rather blunt.

“You say that like you don’t think of those things…” Minamoto poked his cheek. “You’re a boy, so you must.”

Izumi closed his eyes for several seconds, then crossed his arms and looked back at her, starting to seem kind of drained.

“Minamoto-san, we’re going to have a talk about manners later.”

“Sure, sure…” she shrugged with a lopsided smirk, and Izumi left it at that for now.

“You’re Hanamiya-kun, right? I’m Izumi Mamoru, nice to meet you.”

Hanamiya gave a small nod, eyes half-lidded, feeling kind of sleepy from the heat.

“What’s your talent?” he rubbed his eyes, almost bumping his hand into his glasses in the process. Izumi seemed hesitant to answer, and fidgeted ever so slightly.

“I… actually don’t remember.”

Hanamiya blinked.

“Excuse me…?”

“I don’t remember my talent,” Izumi repeated himself, biting his lip. “Ever since we got here, every time I try to recall nothing comes up. Maybe I hit my head or something…”

Or maybe he just didn’t have one and was lying about it.

Either way, Hanamiya didn’t care much.

“Yeah, well, tell us once you’ve thought of something,” he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, then turned on his heels, leaving Izumi dumbfounded for a few seconds.

“I- is that all you’re going to say?”

“Yep,” Hanamiya glanced back at him one last time to see his expression shift into a frown of disapproval, then closed the door again.

Extroverts were really a pain to deal with.

Now that he’d been to every room, though, he could finally go take a nap somewhere. He didn’t miss the monitors and security cameras scattered throughout the place - but who would punish him for sleeping, even if they saw? Walking through the hallway, heading towards the mattress he landed on when he arrived, he only came to a halt when the trap door in the ceiling opened, a pair of new students falling out of it.

They immediately began thrashing around, attempting to get their entangled limbs free, and Hanamiya watched them silently with a flat look, waiting for the mattress to free up.

The guy seemed to be just a little more fierce than the girl - possibly because he didn’t take being underneath her very well -, and finally managed to free one of his arms to roughly shove her off of him, cursing without restraint. His red eyes and the piercings Hanamiya spotted on one of his ears made him seem a little more intimidating than his soft features would have allowed to; although the girl seemed to think otherwise, more annoyed than anything.

Her messy, dark red hair stuck up in various directions, and that combined with her jacket and sweatpants made her kind of look like she just got out of bed to go on a morning jog. As she sat up, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

“Do me a favor and try not to kick me next time.”

“Only if you try not to fucking fall on me next time.”

They seemed like they could get into a fight any moment, so Takahashi took it upon himself to step between them, attempting to stop them ahead of time. The rest of the students gradually left the rooms they’d been hanging out in to see what the commotion was about, and Izumi walked past Takahashi to place his hands on his hips.

“I don’t know what you guys’ problem is, but there will be no fighting here under my watch, so please at least try to control yourselves for a few seconds.”

He seemed genuinely frustrated by now - possibly due to Minamoto bugging him so much -, although his expression immediately softened when the 2 in question reluctantly ceased fire.

“Alright, geez…” the girl got to her feet, rolling her eyes. “I’m sorry, I guess.”

The boy dusted himself off before being pulled to his feet by Takahashi, composing his expression.

“I apologise, that was uncalled for. I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that.”

He seemed like the complete opposite of the first impression he’d given off now: calm and collected, head humbly lowered. Perhaps he was one of those hotheaded types that could also cool down extremely fast.

Izumi clapped his hands together, opening his mouth, possibly to give some kind of lecture, but was interrupted by Yokoyama stomping up to them to glare at all of them once.

“Fighting like that - aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? You’re high school students, for god’s sake, not toddlers.”

It seemed like they kind of wanted to argue, but Izumi gently shoved Yokoyama to the side, clamping a hand over her mouth before she could start angrily ranting.

“While I agree with Yokoyama-san here, you both seem apologetic enough, so as long as you don’t do it again I’m willing to let this incident slide.”

He kind of sounded like a teacher - maybe if he had a talent, it had to do with something like that.

“I believe most people here have already had a few conversations, so I think you two should be the first ones to introduce yourselves. Now that everyone has arrived, that is.”

Ah, now that Hanamiya thought about it… he had 15 classmates, if he was remembering it right. As he slowly scanned the room, lazily counting everybody, he nodded to himself; they were all here alright. Sitting down on the corner of the mattress and ignoring the questioning stares he got in return, he waited for his turn to arrive so he could get some rest.

The girl was the first one to speak.

“Hayama Momoko,” she let herself relax with a small huff, her previously annoyed expression replaced by a more laidback one. “I’m the Super High School Level Volleyball Player. And… no, I’m not a delinquent. Unlike this guy here, probably,” she pointed at the boy with the red eyes, and he raised a brow, but remained calm this time.

“Please refrain from insulting each other,” Izumi let out a sigh, and Hayama’s lips twitched into a small smile.

“My name is Akiyama Keiji,” the boy’s gaze slowly shifted from her to Izumi, then to everyone else in the room, presumably examining them one by one. “I’m afraid being able to defend myself doesn’t make me a delinquent, Hayama-san. As for my talent… I’m a waiter.”

He did a little more than defend himself, but the only one who seemed determined to remark on that was Yokoyama, who was currently being held down by Izumi.

The rest of the students gave a short introduction as well, Hanamiya keeping his the shortest and ending it with a yawn, and gradually leaned more and more backwards as the conversation went on until he was lying on his back.

“I’m guessing nobody knows how we ended up here,” Izumi mused out loud, Yokoyama next to him silently fuming. Everyone shook their heads in unison, Aragaki narrowing her eyes in the back.

“This must be another one of my endless trials… Fear not, mortals, as long as you don’t stand in my way, I shall not harm any of you,” she spoke in a calm, yet grandiose tone, Nakajima next to her already walking off to the side to spare himself from her antics.

Izumi opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Where are we anyway?” completely ignoring Aragaki, Hayama leaned against the wall.

“On a ship, I think,” Takahashi replied, fidgeting a little. Chiba uncomfortably averted his gaze.

“I wonder what this is about…” Fujinomiya anxiously glanced around, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort.

Before anyone could share their theories, though, the trap door opened one more time, a cloud of smoke - or vapor, rather -, filling the room, causing everyone to close their eyes for a moment. As the cloud settled down, it revealed what seemed like a pair of plushies standing in the middle of the mattress - a white and a black cat, each wearing an eye patch. Hanamiya was promptly picked up by a startled Takahashi, and being half-asleep already, he didn’t even try to resist.

“I see you’ve all managed to settle in already. That’s wonderful; I hope some of you have made friends already!”

It took everyone a few seconds to realise that the white cat had spoken, and Aragaki let out a high-pitched screech, hiding behind a stunned Sakurauchi.

“G-g-ghost- t-that doll m-must be cursed!” she whimpered.

Komatsu, on the other hand, placed her hands on her cheeks as she practically shrieked in delight.

“Oh my, how adorable! Yui-tan has never seen a talking cat before!”

“Those are just robots, right…?” Kageyama actually seemed nervous for a change, attempting to cling to Nakajima who merely flipped him off before sidestepping him.

“How rude!” the white cat placed its hands on its… hips? Then it took a step forward, causing Chiba to take up a battle stance. It looked kind of comical - him feeling threatened by a stuff animal like that. “I’m not a robot - or a doll, as a matter of fact! My name is Shironeko, and I’m one of the teachers that will accompany you during this field trip!”

Hanamiya gestured for Takahashi to put him down, but as the taller boy was busy freaking out over what was happening, all he achieved was him tightening his hold. Hanamiya went limp with a small sigh, giving up for now.

“My colleague is Kuroneko, but she’s a mean one, so be careful around her!” Shironeko poked said cat’s side, and Kuroneko hissed back.

“Don’t listen to this loser, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’m obviously the more popular one out of us,” she proudly puffed her chest out.

“F-field trip?” Fujinomiya echoed, unsure if she heard that right.

“Indeed, this is a field trip!” Shironeko nodded, clasping her paws together. “Smart girl! The purpose of this field trip is so you all can learn valuable life experiences, and will grow stronger by going through hardships together.”

“Oh, my…” Natsume took a few steps forward, curiously peering down at the cats. “May I ask for you to specify?”

Kuroneko roughly shoved Shironeko to the side, and Hayama leaped out of the way, squishing herself against the wall with an uncomfortable expression.

“Listen up, fancy pants, because this is all very, very simple, and I don’t wanna have to repeat myself!” she suddenly raised her voice even more, causing several students to wince a little. “You won’t be allowed to leave until you fulfill the necessary criteria. And that is…”

“No, don’t say it!” Shironeko got to his feet, running up to Kuroneko and lifting his left paw. “I wanna be the one to tell them!”

“You’d hit a girl?” Kuroneko’s question caused him to pause, leaving enough of an opening for the black cat to kick him right where he’d got up from, then turning back around to face the students. “You’re going to have to kill each other! Whoever gets away successfully with a murder will get to leave, you hear that?”

Everyone went dead quiet. Surely, they misheard that… Something like that couldn’t possibly be true, right?

Chiba was the first to step forward.

“Alright, listen,” he took a deep breath, seemingly trying to control his temper. “I guess Hope’s Peak Academy is full of fucking idiots who thinks pulling a prank like this is funny - but newsflash, it’s not. Can we just get this over with before I snap you both in half?”

“Oooh, feisty!” Kuroneko cackled, causing Chiba to grind his teeth in frustration. “So you don’t believe me, is that it?”

“Of course he doesn’t believe you…” Hanamiya sleepily interrupted, causing Takahashi to almost drop him. “There’s no reason to.”

“That’s- that’s right, you can’t just say something like that and expect us to go through with it!” Yokoyama shouted, her hands curled up into fists. Izumi attempted to calm her down, but gave up when all he received was a glare in return.

Kuroneko seemed to think this over before shrugging nonchalantly.

“I guess I’ll just have to prove it to you, then… Okay, which one of you would like to volunteer for a demonstration? Don’t worry, I won’t kill you - not unless you break the rules, that is!”

“R-rules…?” Fujinomiya yelped when Shironeko suddenly rushed towards her, shoving a small device into her hands.

“I apologise, we forgot to hand these out earlier,” he then ran around in a circle, handing one of the items to each person, most of them too stunned to even try to refuse. “These are your Electronic Student Handbooks - you may use them to check the rules if you wish to. I recommend you do! They’re veeeery important!”

“Yeah, yeah, never mind that - I would like a volunteer!” Kuroneko impatiently stomped her feet, scanning everyone one by one. “If none of you are willing, I’ll pick one myself…”

“Ridiculous…” Akiyama muttered to himself, clearly having difficulty keeping his cool. Kuroneko’s gaze settled on him.

“Well, looks like we’ve got one after all. Be sure to fix him up afterwards!”

Akiyama frowned, getting ready to retort, but suddenly froze in place, his eyes slowly shifting towards the floor. Fujinomiya seemed like she might collapse anytime soon, and clung to Sakurauchi alongside Aragaki. Takahashi’s hold on Hanamiya weakened, and he landed on the floor with a dull thud, suddenly feeling more awake than ever.

Blood pooled around one of Akiyama’s shoes, his foot pierced by a thick needle. Kuroneko was laughing harder and harder until she almost fell over, taking pleasure in the shocked reactions.

“May you all have a wonderful time!”

* * *

**Survivors: 16**


	2. Friendships and apologies

“Are you okay there?”

The question caused the girl to flinch - unsurprising; she’s been trembling nonstop ever since those stuffed animals appeared. At the start, she seemed like she was kind of keeping it together, but as soon as she saw the blood she gave up on pretending. Again, Hanamiya couldn’t find it in himself to feel surprised.

“…O-of course I’m n-not…” Fujinomiya averted her gaze, her hold around herself just a little tighter. Takahashi had carried off Akiyama to the storage, closely followed by Natsume, looking for bandages and anything else that might help, and the rest of the group was left to their own devices as the cats vanished without a trace.

Akiyama’s injury wasn’t too bad, so the group had managed to gradually calm down a little bit, but the weight of Kuroneko’s speech still hung over them, making them feel rather tense.

Chiba and Yokoyama both looked so pissed off nobody else dared approach them, and while Aragaki had regained her dramatic persona for the most part, she was still visibly shaken up and kept muttering to herself.

Nakajima was standing in a corner far away from everyone else, seemingly attempting to merge with the walls, shooting everyone who even looked at him an uncomfortable glare.

Hayama had hesitantly ran after Natsume and the other 2 to check up on them, and Komatsu had followed her out of curiosity, her ominous giggles slowly fading into the distance.

 Tsutsui’s phone was clutched in her hands, and while she seemed patient, listening to Sakurauchi’s worried ranting, Hanamiya didn’t miss the way her hold tightened with time. The catlike girl would’ve probably been a lot better off with Kageyama, who was pacing around in circles, trying to find someone who was willing to listen to his nervous breakdown, coming to a halt in front of Minamoto who didn’t even get the opportunity to refuse, and simply stood still silently while fidgeting as Kageyama bombarded her with sentences one after another.

Izumi seemed to be the only one present who was keeping relatively calm apart from Hanamiya, clearly trying his best to keep it together for the sake of the group. He placed a hand on Fujinomiya’s shoulder, attempting to sound reassuring but unable to fully hide the anxiety in his voice.

“Let’s all try to think rationally, okay? Nobody is going to kill anybody here, don’t worry.”

Fujinomiya shakily nodded, but it was clear that she had difficulty believing his words. Then again, she did seem like a nervous wreck.

Kageyama stopped for a moment upon hearing that, and rapidly nodded his head several times.

“Y-yeah, that’s right, nobody here would do something like that,” he took a subtle breath before turning back to the linguist. “Isn’t that right, Minamoto?”

Finally getting a word in, she averted her gaze.

“Probably n-not, I mean… we’re all high schoolers here, t-there’s no reason any of us would do something like that.”

How confident.

Hanamiya was the first one to check his e-Handbook, keeping quiet for now - better examine the situation properly before they try to solve it.

_Rule #1: You are free to investigate this ship at your own discretion. Your actions in this regard are not limited._

_Rule #2: Destroying any property of this ship without permission is expressly prohibited. This includes the surveillance cameras and monitors._

_Rule #3: Violence against the teachers will result in punishment._

_Rule #4: "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Some areas are off limits at night, so please exercise caution._

_Rule #5: Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students._

_Rule #6: If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed._

_Rule #7: If the blackened is not exposed, the remaining students will be executed._

_Rule #8: As a reward, the surviving blackened will be forgiven of their crime and allowed to leave the killing game._

_Rule #9: The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people discover a body for the first time._

_Rule #10: The blackened may only kill a maximum of two people._

_Additional rules may be added at the teachers' discretion._

Hanamiya looked up from his handbook to see Izumi staring at him, his own handbook in his hands as well. He didn’t seem suspicious of him - rather, more uneasy than anything. Hanamiya breathed a small sigh, then stood a little straighter, lifting one of his hands to gather everyone’s attention.

“Let’s try to unlock that staircase for now. And… if we can’t get the ship moving, we should look for a smaller boat.”

“I’m… I’m not getting in a boat,” Chiba spoke up, only to be glared at by Yokoyama.

“Then you can just stay here until the rest of us get help,” she huffed, crossing her arms. Chiba sent her a flat look.

“Guys, we haven’t even found a boat yet…” Kageyama looked from one to another, his hands raised in front of him as though he was dealing with a pair of wild animals. “Let’s see how much of the ship we can explore first.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Izumi finally nodded. It seemed he had taken on the leadership role, be it on purpose or by accident, as him giving the okay caused Yokoyama to cool down somewhat. He checked the time; it was a few minutes past noon apparently. “Let’s look around more carefully. We can gather here again at 2.”

And with that, everyone split up once more.

* * *

 

A few hours later, and they still hadn’t found anything that could help - figures. Hanamiya had gulped down multiple cups of coffee to wake himself up, and at some point Takahashi returned to report that Natsume had fixed Akiyama up for the most part. At least that was one less thing to worry about.

The sun was soon setting, though, and seeing as how they weren’t better off than when they started, some people have already stopped trying and have left for their rooms, either to get some sleep or to try to rationalize the situation by themselves. Hanamiya, ironically, was one of the last ones to leave, rubbing his eyes sleepily once the caffeine had worn off. There was a small tug on one of his sleeves, and he looked back to see Fujinomiya staring at him with a desperate look in her eyes.

“N-nobody will die, right…? We’ll all b-be okay, r-right?”

She looked like she needed reassurance so bad, craving for hope, for something to hold on to.

Hanamiya slowly nodded.

“We’ll be fine.”

* * *

 

They probably won’t be fine - was the first thought that crossed Hanamiya’s mind when he was woken up by the cats fighting each other to announce that morning has arrived. He wondered if there was any way to switch the monitors off, turning on his side to try to go back to sleep instinctively, and was about to drift off again when a knock sounded on his door.

He stayed in the same position, not wanting to move, but the knocking persisted and he slowly raised his head, looking somewhat annoyed. Reluctantly climbing out of bed, he staggered over to the door, eyes still half closed, and opened it with a small yawn.

“Morning…”

“Good morning,” he was greeted by Izumi standing outside, looking a lot more awake than Hanamiya was feeling. He didn’t seem fazed by his messy appearance in the slightest - he could probably guess that he’d just woken up. “We’re going to have a meeting in the cafeteria soon, so please be sure not to skip breakfast.”

Hanamiya hummed with a small nod, looking like he might fall asleep while standing, and Izumi’s expression slowly shifted into a small frown.

“Should I bring you some coffee?”

“I’m good…” Hanamiya shook his head, leaning against the doorway for support. Once he gave him a long, prying look, Izumi took a step back.

“Well, if you’re sure…” he gestured to the other rooms, some of the doors already open. “I’ll go tell everyone else and that might take a while, so feel free to take your time.”

Hanamiya nodded once more, and didn’t even bother to close the door as he wandered over to the bathroom to try to wake himself up with a shower.

Several minutes and a hot shower later, having changed into clean clothes, he finally managed to leave the room without bumping into anything on the way, still a little drowsy but already a lot more awake than before. He mumbled a ‘good morning’ to Hayama who had sprinted past him, and entered the cafeteria to find something to eat.

The tables were already set and lined with breakfast items; Akiyama kept himself standing with Natsume’s walking stick, Izumi trying to convince him to take it easy due to his injury. Nakajima was also present, surprisingly, sipping what looked like a cup of coffee, doing his best to ignore the way Yokoyama was trying to drill a hole into him with her gaze. She seemed to have calmed down since yesterday, but she still had the same explosive aura around her, causing Hanamiya to instinctively avoid even walking near her direction.

In the end, he took a seat next to Fujinomiya and Tsutsui, greeting each of them sleepily.

“You look rather tired, Hanamiya-chan,” Tsutsui remarked, worry clear in her eyes. The more Hanamiya looked at her, the less creepy she was becoming.

“This is pretty normal for me,” Hanamiya shrugged, wondering if it’d be polite to start eating before everyone had arrived. He was feeling kind of hungry… although the only one eating so far was Hayama.

“It’s okay, I… didn’t get much sleep either…” Fujinomiya half-mumbled, fiddling with the hem of her jacket. Her glasses making it hard to see her eyes properly, Hanamiya could just barely spot a hint of dark circles underneath them.

The next one to arrive was Aragaki, having fully gone back to looking gloomy rather than scared out of her mind, followed by Sakurauchi and Minamoto, who seemed to be having a somewhat cheerful conversation, Minamoto occasionally hiding a smirk and snickering under her breath, bringing a refreshing atmosphere with them.

Chiba had dragged a still half-asleep Natsume inside, Kageyama poking fun at them both without a hint of wanting to help out, then Chiba tripping him over at some point to give him a petty, smug look.

Takahashi had almost crashed into the door when he arrived, having sprinted all the way there to not make everyone else wait too much. Yokoyama didn’t waste any time before scolding him.

Komatsu was the last one to arrive, humming some kind of song to herself loudly, Chiba and Nakajima sighing in unison. They weren’t the only ones weirded out by her attitude, but they were one of the few ones to voice their displeasure out loud.

Once everyone had arrived, they all began to eat, the conversation back to where they’d left off yesterday. Hanamiya barely bothered to pay attention; they were just talking in circles anyway. He poured himself a cup of coffee, downing almost half of it immediately before he began to eat.

“So what, we’re just gonna sit around doing nothing?” Chiba scowled, visibly upset by the idea. Kageyama would’ve given his shoulder a small pat if Chiba hadn’t slapped his hand away, showing his clear dismay upon being treated as a child.

“This place isn’t all that big…” Hayama sighed, stretching her back. “Aw, man, I wish we could at least get the windows open…”

No matter how many times they’d tried, though, the windows wouldn’t budge.

“It’s not all that bad,” resting his chin on his hand, Natsume’s gaze went into the distance. “The food is quite good.”

“Priorities…” Nakajima mumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys,” Kageyama started, taking a large bite of a pretzel, “but I’d try to chill out for now. Need it after yesterday.”

Minamoto opened her mouth, and Izumi took it upon himself to cover it ahead of time, to which she puffed her cheeks as she pushed his hand away.

“You didn’t even know what I was gonna say…”

“Sorry, it was a reflex,” Izumi smiled politely, and Minamoto stuck her tongue out.

“A-anyway, I’m sure we’ll be fine as long as we work together,” Takahashi interjected nervously, to which Aragaki suddenly raised her head.

“That is correct. Fear not, mortals, for you have the fallen angel on your side for now. I shall grant you temporary protection, before-“

“Even though you were shaking like a leaf yesterday,” Kageyama grinned, and Aragaki choked on her drink.

“As if you weren’t,” Akiyama sighed.

“Cease your foolish behavior!” Aragaki managed to exclaim, having finished coughing her lungs up. Kageyama responded with a shrug.

Hanamiya stood up without warning, temporarily stopping the conversation in its tracks, having finished eating.

“I’ll be in the storage if you need me.”

* * *

 

Any other guy would have probably been thrilled to be alone with 2 girls in a rather small room, but all Hanamiya could think of was the peace and quiet he’d just lost.

Well, not that there was much of it at the breakfast table.

Sakurauchi had grabbed hold of Fujinomiya as soon as she finished eating, dragging her after Hanamiya without hesitation, the shorter girl too timid to properly resist. As Hanamiya lay on a mattress, Fujinomiya almost tripped and fell onto him, Sakurauchi not bothering to close the door behind them.

“Hanamiya-san, Hanamiya-san - I promised I’d talk to you later, didn’t I?” she beamed, her eyes sparkling with childlike glee. “Have you heard Fujinomiya-san’s voice yet? She has an amazing range, you know!”

“I don’t really listen to music…” Hanamiya’s response ended in a yawn, but Sakurauchi’s enthusiasm didn’t fade.

“Ohh, is that so? That’s okay, she can always show you! Right, Fujinomiya-san?”

Fujinomiya froze before lifting her hands to fidget rapidly, anxiously glancing around.

“U-uhm… Actually, Sakurauchi-san…” she took a deep breath, adjusting her glasses before they could slip off. “I’m… a little nervous singing in front of strangers. I’ve… n-never even had a concert before…”

Sakurauchi blinked, and Hanamiya listened just a little more intently.

“The band I’m in… we got popular online through a video sharing website,” Fujinomiya continued, her head lowered slightly. “But I’m not used to singing in front of a live audience…”

Hanamiya sat up slowly, his glasses a little lopsided.

“Fujinomiya-san, have you considered practicing in front of others to work on that?” he tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. Fujinomiya opened her mouth, then closed it almost immediately, shaking her head. It seemed more like a general refusal, rather than a ‘no’ to his question.

“It’s just us 3 here right now…” Hanamiya’s voice trailed off, only for Sakurauchi to continue.

“Yeah, it’d only be in front of us! If you have stage fright, this should be fine, right?”

Fujinomiya took a small step backwards, as though trying to escape, but seemed to hesitate, strongly considering the idea.

“I really like your voice,” Sakurauchi’s bright smile seemed to light up the room. “I’ve wanted to ask you for a collab for a very long time now! I- I really think you should have more faith in yourself.”

“It’s not quite… about faith,” Fujinomiya’s eyes were on the floor, staring at her shoes. For the first time, Hanamiya noticed the cherry-shaped decorations hanging from them.

“The best way to get over these things is by exposing yourself to them, I think,” he finally fixed his glasses so he could look at her properly. “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

“…It kind of feels like I’m being pressured into this…” she swallowed nervously, but Hanamiya’s expression remained neutral. It wasn’t that important anyway, if she didn’t want to, they didn’t have to force her. But to his surprise, she gestured for Sakurauchi to stop before she could even start apologising, instead closing her eyes and taking a few breaths. She took a few more steps towards the door so she could close it, then folded her arms in front of herself and straightened her back.

Her voice shook a little at the start, probably from the nerves, and she took small pauses to gather her composure a bit from time to time, but… she sang. Anybody would be able to tell that it wasn’t her best, from her tense posture alone if anything, but it still managed to stun Hanamiya and make Sakurauchi practically melt.

When she reached the end of the song, she exhaled as though she’d just run a marathon, her hands trembling slightly. She finally opened her eyes again, only to be startled by Sakurauchi’s loud exclamation.

“I told you you have a beautiful voice, Fujinomiya-san!”

Fujinomiya’s gaze bore into Hanamiya nervously, and he gave a small nod.

“It was good.”

Sakurauchi puffed her cheeks out at his response, and he raised a brow, wondering what he did to warrant that reaction. Fujinomiya on the other hand seemed happy, and most of all, relieved, although her fidgeting had returned.

“B-but I don’t know if I could do it in front of more people…”

Sakurauchi removed her hat to place it on top of her head, causing her to flinch for a moment then send the girl a questioning look, before Sakurauchi proceeded to pet her head gently like she would have a cat.

“It’s okay, Fujinomiya-san, I’m sure you’ll be able to sooner or later.”

Hanamiya took Fujinomiya’s flustered silence as his opening.

“By the way, Sakurauchi-san, why did you bring Fujinomiya-san here?” he slowly flopped back down onto the mattress, only looking at the girl from the corner of his eye. Sakurauchi perked up at the question, letting out a cheerful giggle.

“It’s because I want to tell you both about my new idea, since I’d like it if both of you were involved in it! I’ve already told you about it, haven’t I? I have, I have, I’m sure I have!”

Hanamiya closed his eyes, accepting his fate for now - maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, just listening to her talk. She was a little loud, but… maybe an almost obnoxiously cheerful personality like that wasn’t so bad at times like these.

* * *

 

Swinging her legs back and forth, Hayama took up a comfortable position on top of one of the tables, leaning backwards.

“How’s your injury doing?”

Akiyama lifted his gaze before shrugging his shoulders lightly.

“Natsume-kun had leant me his cane, so I can walk, at least. Hurts like hell, though.”

She had a feeling it would.

An uncomfortable silence falling over them for several seconds, she cleared her throat, playing with her hair awkwardly.

“By the way, I’m sorry about earlier…”

When the only response she received was a questioning look, she continued.

“I was kinda… out of it, I guess. It’s a bit hard to stay calm in a situation like that. Just… sorry for being a bit of a bitch, ‘kay?”

Unexpectedly, the hint of a smile crossed Akiyama’s face, and he leaned forward to rest his chin on his hand.

“You say that like I didn’t lose my temper. Using such language too…” he breathed a small sigh, as though he couldn’t quite believe it. “It’s hard to get rid of bad habits like that.”

“What, anger issues?” Hayama raised a brow, and Akiyama seemed to think that over for a moment.

“That too, I guess. But even regardless of that,” finally making proper eye contact, he looked a little melancholic, but sincere nevertheless, “I shouldn’t have been so rough with a girl.”

“I feel like I should be offended,” Hayama pouted a bit, but shrugged it off in the end, expression more laidback than before. Akiyama seemed like a good guy - with anger issues, but not an asshole to say the least. That was already better than her first impression of him. “So we’re cool?”

“…Yeah,” Akiyama nodded, and Hayama hopped off the table to do some light stretches.

“Alright, glad we could get that sorted out,” she grinned lightly, holding out her hand. “Natsume-kun couldn’t fix you up completely, right? Let’s go see if there’s something in the store that might help.”

Akiyama thought it over for a few seconds before nodding his head, although he didn’t reach for her hand, instead lifting the walking stick slightly.

“It’s a little hard to walk without using both of my hands, so…”

“Oh, that’s right. Sorry,” Hayama gave an embarrassed laugh, drawing her hand back, and Akiyama placed one of his hands on the wall to use it as support, the walking stick in his other one.

“Well, let’s go then.”

* * *

 

“What are you looking for, exactly?” Tsutsui inquired politely, to which Nakajima turned his head in her direction. He saw her enter the store earlier but didn’t pay her much mind, instead busily scanning the shelves one by one. Now that she had actually spoken to him, he had no choice but acknowledge her presence properly.

“…Just something useful, I guess,” he shrugged, shivering a little as her deep blue eyes bore into his own, and tugging his hood lower over his face for comfort. Being alone with someone like her wasn’t ideal at all.

“Do you mean for getting out of here? Or for something else?” Tsutsui persisted, clearly wanting to know the details - unfortunately for Nakajima, who just wanted to be done with the conversation as soon as possible.

“I’m not going to kill anyone, if that’s what you’re implying,” he scowled, to which Tsutsui raised a brow.

“I wasn’t implying anything, really. But that’s a relief.”

Nakajima moved on to a different shelf, and Tsutsui followed.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?” he grumbled, trying to make his displeasure as clear as possible. He’d had enough of spontaneous mishappenings, and being around people certainly wasn’t going to decrease the chances of another one occurring.

Tsutsui took a little longer to respond.

“Everyone else is already in their own groups, and I didn’t want to bother them. You were by yourself, so I figured I could talk to you,” she explained patiently. Nakajima kind of wanted to snap at her - but she wasn’t one of the obnoxious or hotheaded ones, so he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not yet, anyway.

“Did you ever consider that maybe I don’t want to talk?”

“Why not?” Tsutsui seemed genuinely curious; Nakajima wondered if he could just run past her and spend the rest of the day in his room. He probably would have, had he not been so desperate to find a way outside as soon as possible. He really didn’t have time to be messing around like this.

“…Don’t feel like it,” he avoided her prying gaze, hoping she wouldn’t insist on the topic. Or on talking at all.

Tsutsui lifted a hand to brush some of her locks to the side.

“You’re a strange one, Nakajima-chan.”

Says you.

“Hey…” Tsutsui took another step, kind of invading his personal space, peering up at him with her head tilted upwards. “Why are you acting so cold? I haven’t done anything to make you angry… at least, I don’t think I have. And you’ve been like this even before Akiyama-chan got injured, so it can’t be that.”

He winced a little at the memory of the incident, but stayed silent this time. Tsutsui slowly reached for his hand, and he stepped back, almost hitting his elbow on the wall in the process. She let her arms drop to her sides, and took a few seconds to start typing again.

“Do you just not like me?”

A reflexive ‘yeah’ would have been his usual response - not that he’s been asked that much, usually managing to avoid situations where it could happen. But this time, he found his voice stuck in his throat, the girl’s innocent, wide-eyed stare making her seem like an eccentric child, rather than someone to be wary of. Nakajima bit his lip.

“…I just don’t like people in general.”

Tsutsui didn’t seem satisfied with that response, and her eyes slowly moved downwards until her gaze settled on the notepad clutched in his hands.

“Nakajima-chan, could I take a look at that?” she pointed at said object with her free hand, and Nakajima instinctively held it a bit tighter.

“It’s private,” he shook his head. Practically pressing himself up against the wall, he couldn’t put any more distance between them when Tsutsui stepped even closer.

She stared into his eyes as she typed away on her phone, and his breath hitched.

“Could you perhaps be scared of people, rather than not liking them?”

Seconds passed by in complete silence, and just as Nakajima opened his mouth to give some kind of response, the door opened, Hayama sticking her head inside. Upon seeing the two in that kind of position, a sly grin spread on her face.

“Damn, someone’s getting it on already.”

“In public, no less,” Akiyama appeared slightly behind her, a lot less smug about the discovery. As Tsutsui turned to the side, Nakajima breathed a subtle sigh of relief, and sidestepped her before she could corner him again.

Mumbling a quiet ‘idiots’ under his breath, he promptly walked out the door.

* * *

 

“Yokoyama-san… are you okay?”

Sending a nasty glare in Izumi’s direction, Yokoyama took a deep breath to calm herself, then averted her gaze. The hallway felt a lot bigger with just the 2 of them around.

“Obviously not…”

She’d exhausted herself yesterday, being so pissed off the entire day, and didn’t have the energy to keep that up anymore, as frustrated as she was. On the bright side, people weren’t avoiding her as much anymore, as her complaints and lectures were at a reasonable volume.

She shook some of her hair out of her eyes, and Izumi attempted to start a conversation yet again.

“Doesn’t having a fringe that long bother you?”

Yokoyama opened her mouth, then closed it again and sighed.

“I haven’t had time to get a haircut.”

“Why not do it yourself, then?” Izumi tilted his head slightly.

“…I don’t want to mess it up,” Yokoyama tried to brush some of it behind her ears, annoyed when some strands kept hanging over her eyes. “I’m not very good with my hands, and I don’t want it to end up being too short.”

Izumi tapped his chin slowly.

“Maybe you could ask someone here, then. I’m sure there must be at least one person who’s good at haircuts,” he suggested. His reserved, polite tone was enough for Yokoyama to gradually cool down completely, and she crossed her arms with a neutral expression for a change.

“Maybe. Could you do it for me?”

“You mean ask around?” Izumi took a step, as though ready to do it any second, but Yokoyama shook her head.

“No, I mean cut my hair. Could you do that?”

Izumi blinked.

“…Me?”

“Since we’re already talking and all,” Yokoyama nodded, and Izumi paused, clearly having trouble giving her a straight answer.

“Well… I have cut my sisters’ hair before,” he started hesitantly, nervously fiddling with his own. “…It’d just be simple trimming, right? I think I can do that.”

Yokoyama nodded in satisfaction, grabbing him by the wrist to try to drag him off. Although he could’ve easily resisted, Izumi obliged, letting her lead him around.

“Where are we going?” was all he asked, and she glanced back at him before giving a rather short response.

“My room.”

“Ah…”

Once they reached the door, she opened it then pushed him inside, closing the door behind them. Izumi stood in the center, aimlessly looking around as Yokoyama marched inside the bathroom, returning with a purse and throwing it at Izumi, who managed to just barely catch it. He looked inside to find scissors, brushes and the such, then looked back at Yokoyama who pointed towards the bathroom.

“I don’t want my floor getting dirty, so let’s do it in there. Who knows, it might help you remember something too. Maybe you’re a hairdresser,” it may have sounded like a joke, but she was quite serious about it. Izumi probably realised that, and decided not to question it, instead obediently following her into the bathroom.

“By the way, Yokoyama-san…”

Yokoyama turned her head back to see him flashing a small smile.

“You’re a lot nicer to talk to when you’re not mad.”

* * *

 

Takahashi wondered how he’d ended up in this situation. He was far from worried when Komatsu and Natsume had proceeded to drag him off, only curious about where they were going to take him, but that shifted into confusion when they arrived at the bath. Since they both seemed so sure of themselves, Takahashi only dared to question them timidly, but the responses he received weren’t exactly reassuring.

“Come with us, Takahashi-tan, it’ll be fun!”

“I believe the water temperature is quite pleasant; I am certain the activity would prove to be satisfactory.”

Once they entered the changing room, Natsume breathed a content sigh at the increased warmth, letting go of Takahashi’s hand to place his hat down then remove his jacket. Komatsu followed his example, stripping her dress off while he unbuttoned his shirt. Natsume undressing was one thing - that, Takahashi didn’t mind, they were both guys after all -, but as soon as Komatsu started removing her clothes he closed his eyes and covered his face, even turning his back.

“K-Komatsu-san…? You shouldn’t take your clothes off in front of boys…”

Natsume and Komatsu seemed equally confused by that.

“Why is that, Takahashi-tan?” she swayed on her feet for a moment before she rushed in front of him, causing him to almost lose his balance, whizzing around so fast. “We always bathe together at home! Yui-tan doesn’t mind.”

“Perhaps this might be the so-called ‘culture shock’ I often hear people speak of,” Natsume mused, standing only in his underwear. Now that he mentioned it, Takahashi recalled Komatsu mentioning something about being from an island… He supposed that could have made sense. It didn’t make him feel any more comfortable though.

“S-still, even if you don’t mind, it’s just not right…!” Takahashi made a quiet whining sound as Natsume reached for his jacket, prying his hands away so he could remove it.

“There, there, please settle down. We have just barely arrived; it would be a shame if we left so soon.”

He reluctantly let Natsume strip him down, opening his eyes when the shorter boy stood on his tiptoes to examine him closer. As Yuki opened his mouth to try to ask what he was doing, a chill ran down his spine, something cold suddenly wrapping itself around one of his legs. He looked down to see a snake slowly crawling up his leg, and froze like a deer in headlights, staring silently, screams ringing in his head.

Natsume took his silence as a sign of acceptance of the activity, and seemed a little more cheerful as he removed the rest of his clothes. Komatsu had already ran off to dive into the bath, so Natsume simply rambled to a still stunned Takahashi without expecting a response.

“I’m glad you’re already getting along with my baby. She’s quite a sweetheart, is she not?” he beamed, his smile a lot more genuine than the polite ones he’d been wearing before. “She really loves cuddling.”

Finally finding his voice, Takahashi was feeling unusually lightheaded as he spoke, too stunned to even move.

“Your… baby?”

“Yes!” Natsume nodded enthusiastically, grasping one of Takahashi’s hands in his own, completely lost in the moment. “I usually keep her underneath my coat, but she tends to come out every once in a while.”

Takahashi nodded in a dazed manner, shivering a little as the snake moved around.

Komatsu poked her head inside, soaking wet, leaving small puddles of water behind her.

“Are you guys coming? Or is Yui-tan gonna have to bathe by herself?”

“Ah, apologies, we didn’t mean to make you wait,” Natsume turned to her, leaving Takahashi be for a moment. “I’m merely trying to get Takahashi-kun to relax.”

Komatsu’s eyes sparkled, and she ran up to them to grab Takahashi’s free hand, assisting Natsume in pulling him towards the bath.

“Takahashi-tan, there’s no need to be so anxious! It’ll be fun, okay?”

Mind still blank from the scare from earlier, Takahashi let the other 2 practically shove him into the water.

* * *

 

Chiba arrived at the cafeteria just in time to see Hayama and Akiyama leaving and Kageyama and Aragaki emerging from the kitchen, each holding a plate full of food. He wondered for a moment if he should leave; Kageyama seemed like a good enough guy, but Aragaki was… a weirdo, to say the least, and he didn’t really like hanging around those types.

Kageyama gestured for him to come closer, though, and there weren’t many other people he could have talked to, so he reluctantly walked closer and took a seat.

“’Sup,” Kageyama flicked his hat, seemingly completely relaxed. Apparently him and Aragaki were already on friendly terms, as she seemed quite cheerful sitting next to him, and Chiba couldn’t help but put on a displeased expression for a moment. He leaned closer to Kageyama, lowering his voice so the girl wouldn’t be able to hear.

“You sure you should be hanging out with her?” he narrowed his eyes, but Kageyama stared back at him cluelessly.

“Why not?”

Chiba must have looked annoyed, because Kageyama stifled a snicker.

“…She’s got something wrong with her,” Chiba mumbled, and Kageyama tilted his head slightly before shrugging.

“She’s a bit of a weirdo, sure, but she’s nice. Her insults make next to no sense anyway so they’re pretty easy to ignore.”

“What are you whispering about, foolish mortals?”

They looked in Aragaki’s direction to see her staring at them with her eyes narrowed suspiciously - although that may have been just for show, as her posture still seemed rather relaxed. Kageyama gave Chiba a small pat on the shoulder before he could reply, and spoke first.

“We were discussing your talent, Aragaki.”

Chiba subtly poked Kageyama’s shin with his shoe, as though questioning him, and Kageyama whispered one last time.

“I was gonna mention something about it anyway.”

Aragaki raised a brow.

“Is something strange about it, perhaps?” she twirled a lock of silver hair around her index finger - Chiba recognised it as a nervous habit, and his conflicted frown deepened ever so slightly.

“It is kinda unexpected,” Kageyama leaned back in his chair, looking as laidback as ever. “I guess it’s just not the first thing that I’d have thought of. You do look pretty athletic though.”

Aragaki let go of her hair to cross her arms instead, mumbling something under her breath for a few seconds before she resumed speaking in her usual, dramatic tone.

“Well, I understand if you humans cannot grasp my full potential from a simple glance. A fallen angel isn’t exactly transparent, after all,” she took a sip of her drink, possibly just for the sake of a pause, before she continued. “I have grown up in an ancient village infested by demons, so naturally, I had to find the most convenient way to get around. I could not afford to let them infiltrate my home; it was best to find them and take care of them as soon as possible.”

Kageyama looked like he had exactly zero idea what she was talking about, but Chiba thought he did a passable job of piecing that together.

“So… you wanted to go ghost hunting and picked up cycling to make it easier.”

Aragaki almost choked on her food, and she looked so offended it was almost comical.

“How dare you simplify my duty in such a way! I’ll have you know I am a messenger of the heavens, and-“

“Alright, relax,” Kageyama interjected before her ranting could get out of hand, and she crossed her arms with a sulking expression.

“A mere human speaking to me in such a manner… This is a disgrace,” she muttered to herself. Kageyama flicked his hat.

“Anyway, weren’t you talking about some other demon earlier? You didn’t sound so displeased by that one.”

Chiba gave him a look of ‘why are you going along with her story?’, to which Kageyama’s only response was an impish grin. He probably just found it entertaining.

Aragaki huffed, as though Kageyama had just asked the stupidest question she’d ever heard.

“The demon king is different,” she stated, leaving no room for argument. “It is my mission to resurrect him, and as his servant, I shall obey his wishes.”

Chiba rolled his eyes so hard he thought they might pop out of his skull.

“You’re a keeper, Aragaki,” Kageyama snickered.

“That’s for marriage, dumbass,” Chiba immediately cut in before it could get a laugh out of him, and Kageyama gave him a smug smirk, picking up on it. Aragaki, on the other hand, rose from her seat, leaning over the table.

“Do not insult my subject in front of me, small one.”

Chiba stood up so they could glare at each other properly, albeit with not quite as much distaste in their respective stares as before, and Kageyama followed suit to stick his arms between them.

“I get that I’m hot, but please, don’t fight over me, ladies.”

Chiba kicked him in the shin.

* * *

Although he’d gotten somewhat accustomed to the noisy atmosphere, Hanamiya was still extremely relieved to find that by the time dinner arrived, everyone had mellowed out considerably, tired from the long day they’d had. In fact, Takahashi for one didn’t speak a single word, looking kind of traumatized. Hanamiya wondered if it had to do anything with the way Natsume smiled at him from across the table.

But of course, they couldn’t even have a meal in peace.

Only a few minutes after they started eating, one of the panels on the ceiling opened to let a pair of stuffed animals drop through, landing right in front of Aragaki, who tilted her chair back so fast she ended up knocking it over with a shriek.

Kuroneko wrestled Shironeko to the ground - or rather, table -, standing on top of him, looking quite proud of herself.

“Good evening, everyone! Did you have a fun day? I’m sure you must have!” she clapped her paws together as a sign for them to quiet down - not that there was already much noise to begin with, everyone having to take a few seconds to register what was happening. “We let you spend a day getting properly acquainted with each other, and now that that’s done, it’s time to get down to business.”

People were a lot more hesitant to interrupt this time, recalling what happened to Akiyama, but Yokoyama stood up without hesitation to glare daggers at the cats, joined by Chiba soon after.

“What is it this time? Came to try to scare us again?” Yokoyama scowled, her hands placed on her hips.

“If you’re going to keep us here, the least you could do is not be cryptic as fuck,” Chiba added. Yokoyama nodded in approval - Hanamiya had a feeling this was one of the few times these 2 could ever agree on something.

Shironeko managed to wiggle out from underneath Kuroneko, and raised his hand before he spoke.

“We’re just here to tell you the first motive, don’t worry!”

“Motive…?” Izumi echoed. Shironeko nodded enthusiastically before being pinned down once again by Kuroneko.

“A motive to make you kill each other, of course! Since you seem to be so buddy-buddy already,” she exclaimed.

“Nobody’s going to be killing anybody…!” Hayama objected, Akiyama getting up with a bit more difficulty than the others.

“We aren’t murderers; nothing you’ll try will accomplish anything,” he crossed his arms, somehow sounding a lot more composed than before. Hayama opened her mouth, most likely to ask if he was okay, but he waved his hand to cut her off. “I’ve had worse.”

Kuroneko let out a girlish giggle, several people cringing at the sound of it, and Yokoyama looked like she was going to snap again, but Hanamiya was faster.

“Excuse me, can I leave? I’m kind of sleepy.”

Silence fell upon the room for several seconds, then Kuroneko tilted her head.

“Well, you could leave, but then you’d end up missing the motive! Are you sure you want to do that?”

Hanamiya shrugged.

“I won’t be killing anybody; I’ve no use for it.”

Kuroneko walked closer to him, releasing Shironeko temporarily. She leaned closer and closer, Hanamiya staring back at her with a deadpan expression.

“And what if I told you sleeping isn’t allowed?”

He blinked.

“Excuse me…?”

“It’s true, she’s not lying. Even though I wanted to be the one to say it…” Shironeko whined, his head hanging low in disappointment. Kuroneko… rolled her eyes? Hanamiya couldn’t quite tell.

“For your first motive, you won’t be allowed to sleep until a murder occurs,” she continued, sounding quite smug. “If we catch any of you snoozing… well, I don’t think you’ll what to know what’ll happen to you.”

“You’ll be punished,” Shironeko added, trying to be helpful, only to be kicked by Kuroneko.

“P-punished…?” Fujinomiya squeaked.

“He means executed!” Kuroneko stomped her feet, visibly annoyed that she didn’t get to keep it a mystery, and all Hanamiya could do was stare silently, trying to process that new bit of information.

They might actually be in trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmm next chapter will have some more bonding, then we can get to the first murder! ;0 kekeke


	3. Patience and lack thereof

Hanamiya stifled a yawn, Fujinomiya giving him an apologetic, nervous smile. He didn’t have much of a clue why she had followed him into the storage, but was too sleepy to question it, instead lying on the mattress, almost completely still.

“…Should I fetch you some coffee, Hanamiya-kun?”

He thought it over, but shook his head in the end; he’d already drunk a dangerous amount of it, and didn’t want to go overboard unless he had to. Instead, he tried to get his brain to focus, feeling rather sluggish after an all-nighter.

“How’s Minamoto?”

“Minamoto-san…?” Fujinomiya repeated, as though she wasn’t quite sure what he meant.

“She was holing up in her room pretty much all day long yesterday, and she’s been pretty quiet in general,” Hanamiya shrugged. Despite the fact that he had noticed her presence, he still had trouble recalling her doing much. And she didn’t exactly seem like the quiet type… he’d have asked her, if he wasn’t feeling so tired.

“I can check up on her later, if you want,” Fujinomiya offered, and Hanamiya shrugged once more.

“That would be good, I guess. But you don’t have to,” he let his head drop back down, his glasses lopsided. Fujinomiya was staring at him with such intensity; he had to wonder if there was something he should be concerned about. Well… apart from the current situation, that is. “Why did you come here anyway?”

Fujinomiya winced, and he immediately corrected himself.

“Sorry, that might’ve sounded harsh. I’m just curious is all.”

She breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m kind of worried, Hanamiya-kun,” she admitted bashfully, timidly adjusting her glasses. “You seem to be a lot worse off than most of us when it comes to sleep deprivation… and I’d hate for something to happen to you because of it.”

Ah, so that’s what this was all about. He wasn’t exactly surprised; it was pretty obvious that he was the one having the most trouble with this, several people having to shake him awake during breakfast, as he had ended up on the verge of dozing off multiple times.

“…I appreciate the concern, but… how are you planning on keeping me awake?” he asked, genuinely curious. Fujinomiya tapped her chin, frowning slightly. Singing would probably only make him feel drowsier - not that that was a likely suggestion from her anyway -, and there really wasn’t much they could do aside from talking that didn’t involve energy that Hanamiya didn’t have.

“…I’m not quite sure,” she ended up saying, shyly playing with her hair. She paused for a few seconds, and was just about to continue when someone else poked their head inside, the sound of a familiar bell jingling. Fujinomiya turned her head. “A-ah, Komatsu-san…? Hello-“

Komatsu ran past her, curiously crouching down next to Hanamiya.

“Oh my, what might Hanamiya-tan be doing down there?” she turned back to Fujinomiya, her hands placed on her cheeks. “Do you know, Fujinomiya-tan? Yui-tan is curious!”

“I’m preserving my energy,” Hanamiya responded before Fujinomiya could, and Komatsu nodded excitedly.

“Ohh, I see, I see! That makes sense! Yui-tan is used to staying up, so she didn’t think about that.”

She flopped down onto the mattress as well, her head swaying from side to side playfully. Hanamiya raised a brow.

“Can I help you?”

Komatsu beamed.

“Takahashi-tan seems to be avoiding Yui-tan for some reason, so she would like to talk to Hanamiya-tan next!” she explained, then blinked, as if suddenly remembering something. She turned back to Fujinomiya by bending backwards, her head tilted so far back she looked like she was doing a bridge. “By the way, Sakurauchi-tan has been looking for you.”

“She has?” Fujinomiya echoed, then hesitated for a moment. Hanamiya raised a brow.

“You can go if you want, I’ll be fine,” he sat up slowly to prove his point, his glasses clattering to the floor in the process. Fujinomiya bit her lip, then gave a small nod after a short pause, turning around and walking towards the door. Before she left, she glanced back at him one last time, and he gave her a lazy wave.

“So,” as much as Hanamiya would’ve wanted to lie down, sitting would probably keep him more awake, so he tried his best to straighten his back to wake himself up as much as possible. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

If he had to be honest, he wasn’t even sure why he felt so wary around her until the incidents with the cats occurred, and her cheerful behavior remained the same. While Chiba was most definitely overreacting in some cases… perhaps he wasn’t so wrong about her.

Komatsu thought the question over, then spread her arms cluelessly.

“No idea! Yui-tan has just been curious, because Hanamiya-tan kind of blends into the background. And he’s not mean like Nakajima-tan is…” she pouted at that last part, as though she tried to befriend him at some point only to be shooed away.

Hanamiya hummed.

“What kind of things does Hanamiya-tan like?” Komatsu tilted her head, finally picking a question.

“…I like taking naps,” he replied, unable to think of much that he was passionate about. “And… I like games, I guess. Reading is also nice.”

“Yui-tan doesn’t know much about games,” she tilted her head back, her bell swinging from one side to the other as she kept moving her head. “They didn’t have a lot of them on the island she came from. She really likes art, though! She’s really good at drawing!”

“Art, huh?” Hanamiya’s brows furrowed ever so slightly, thoughtfully. “I’m not really good with my hands.”

Komatsu leaned closer, her bangs revealing her eyes a little. Hanamiya couldn’t quite see them, though.

“Does Hanamiya-tan like singing? Since he’s supposed to have a nice voice…”

Hanamiya had to admit he found that connection a little amusing.

“That’s not really how it works, Komatsu-san,” he finally picked his glasses up, putting them on, a little tired of only seeing blurry colors. “But I guess I can manage. I don’t really do it often, though.”

“Hanamiya-tan should sing something for Yui-tan, then!” she cheered, grabbing him by the shoulders to start shaking him excitedly. “Yui-tan reeeeaally likes music!”

“I… sure, I can do that.”

His glasses fell off yet again.

* * *

 

Fujinomiya let out a startled screech as Sakurauchi gave her a surprise hug from behind, which caused the latter to giggle quite hard, finding it adorable. Fujinomiya crossed her arms, attempting to look stern - having most likely figured out that she was being teased -, but it wasn’t at all intimidating, not with her timid personality. Sakurauchi only grinned.

“Good afternoon, Fujinomiya-san!”

“Y-you’re rather energetic after an all-nighter,” Fujinomiya remarked, nervously fiddling with her sleeves. Sakurauchi placed her hands on her hips, puffing her chest out proudly.

“An all-nighter or 2 is nothing, of course. Although… I’m used to sleeping in a little,” she admitted, a little more sheepish about it, although Fujinomiya didn’t seem surprised by it. It was probably rather obvious. “I usually go to bed pretty late,” she added, to make it seem a little better.

“Isn’t it hard for you to get up for school, then…?” Fujinomiya carefully asked, and Sakurauchi first only responded in a low hum.

“No, not really. I can just sleep in class if I’m that tired.”

“A-ahh, that’s no good, you should be paying attention…” Fujinomiya attempted to scold her, her shy tone making it sound a little funny. “Don’t the teachers punish you for it?”

“I sleep in detention too,” Sakurauchi stated cheerfully, and Fujinomiya let out a small sigh. Sakurauchi’s grin only widened. “It’s okay, Fujinomiya-san, I’ve never failed a subject before. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

That seemed to loosen Fujinomiya up a little.

“Say, would you like to go to the cafeteria later?” Sakurauchi continued, switching topics upon recalling something. “I heard Takahashi-san will be making some delicious desserts! Ahh, I’m already hungry just thinking about them…”

“We just had breakfast, didn’t we…?” Fujinomiya weakly reminded her, but agreed to it regardless. “But I guess if it’s later, it’s fine.”

“Until then…” Sakurauchi suddenly leaned extremely close, grabbing both of Fujinomiya’s hands to hold them in her own. “Please let me tell you more of my ideas…! I’m really curious about what you think of them, Fujinomiya-san!”

She seemed reluctant to say yes - possibly not used to such a chatterbox personality? Sakurauchi made a mental note to tone it down for later -, but she ended up caving in regardless. Sakurauchi was delighted.

“Why… do you want to talk to me so much, though?” Fujinomiya asked, averting her gaze. “I don’t think I’m that much fun to talk to… I m-mean, I’ve been told my mannerisms are kind of frustrating, s-so…”

Sakurauchi’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ shape as she listened, then she vehemently shook her head.

“Of course you’re not frustrating to talk to, Fujinomiya-san! Actually, I think you being so shy is kind of cute,” she replied, trying to sound as sincere as possible. Fujinomiya seemed stunned for a moment, then her voice rose an entire octave.

“R-really!?”

“Yes, really!” Sakurauchi smiled brightly.

The heat in Fujinomiya’s cheeks rose, and she lifted her hands to place them on her cheeks to try to calm her blush.

“You’re- you’re not just saying that t-to make me feel better, right, Sakurauchi-san…?”

“Ehh? I wouldn’t do something like that. I really like talking to you, actually,” Sakurauchi took her hat off to place it on Fujinomiya’s head, the way she’d done before, and the latter took it much better than the previous day. She seemed strangely happy by a small reassurance like that.

“W-well, if you say so…” she couldn’t help a small smile from forming on her face, and she bashfully played with her hair. “I apologise, I… d-don’t get called that v-very often. But…” she shyly looked back at the other girl, still having trouble making eye contact but trying her best, “t-thank you, Sakurauchi-san. I like talking to you as well, a-although it would be quite nice if… you could be a little calmer…” her voice trailed off, as if she wasn’t quite sure if she was being rude or not, but Sakurauchi didn’t mind.

“Okay, I can do that,” her voice was already a bit lower in volume, and Fujinomiya breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t take it the wrong way. Sakurauchi took her hands once again, and Fujinomiya let her this time. “Please don’t be shy to tell me if I ever overwhelm you - I want you to have fun while you’re talking to me as well, Fujinomiya-san,” her overly cheerful behavior faltered for a moment, but she quickly pulled herself together, not wanting to bring down the mood. “Everyone has different preferences; I really don’t mind it if it means we can be friends.”

She gave Fujinomiya’s head a little pat, and the other girl’s gaze slowly slipped from her, torn between feeling a little ashamed and relieved.

“Thank you, Sakurauchi-san.”

* * *

 

“I heard Takahashi-kun will be baking later,” Izumi mentioned nonchalantly, and Yokoyama glanced back at him. Her bangs have been trimmed to a more reasonable length, which helped make her neutral face a little less grumpy looking, but she found her attitude to still be unpleasant for some people. Well, if they wanted to think that, that was their own problem. She was just looking out for everyone.

“Is that so? That’s good, food might help with energy,” she mused, frowning upon remembering their predicament. She’d been trying to think of a way to solve it as soon as possible - she couldn’t afford her classmates going around killing each other after all -, but it was proving to be quite hard with the limited resources she had. While she had faith in the others, she was a realist, and deep down knew that at this rate it was inevitable for something to happen sooner or later.

Then again… Izumi did seem to be quite eager to help her.

“…You don’t seem like you’re enjoying this conversation very much, sorry,” Izumi apologised with a  nervous smile, but Yokoyama shook her head.

“It’s not that,” she sat down on her bed with a sigh, staring at the floor as her frown deepened. “Everything is just really stressing me out. I… feel really powerless.”

Izumi remained standing, concern clear in his eyes.

“That’s understandable. I think anyone would be upset with these things happening around them.”

Yokoyama folded her hands in her lap, then raised her head to look him in the eyes, which seemed to unnerve him the tiniest bit, her gaze even more intense than usual.

“Do you think anyone would… kill someone here?” as blunt as usual, she decided to just straight up ask him. He did seem to be better at understanding people than her, and something deep inside her desperately yearned for someone to tell her that she was wrong, that she shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that. “I want an honest response,” she stated.

Izumi seemed to be caught off-guard by the question. He didn’t really look like he wanted to be thinking about these things, but Yokoyama was stubborn, and she wasn’t willing to just leave him be.

“I don’t know,” he ended up saying, wearing an apologetic expression. “I… suppose there’s a chance at least someone will try. But I’m hoping we can figure something out before it happens.”

Yokoyama pursed her lips, her gaze shifting back to her shoes.

“…I don’t know what we could do, though.”

Izumi seemed to hesitate for a moment, then said something that caught her attention.

“I have an idea… kind of.”

* * *

 

“Natsume-chan, please don’t bother Takahashi-chan so much; he looks a little uncomfortable.”

Takahashi quickly turned to Tsutsui to deny that - it’d be really rude and kind of mean for him to admit it -, but he came face-to-face with a beaming Natsume, and his voice got stuck in his throat, remembering yesterday’s events. He turned his head back.

“I admit a little more space might be nice…” he half-mumbled, reluctant to say it louder, but Natsume picked up on it anyway, and took a step back.

“Ah? I apologise, I was not aware that I was bothering you,” he bowed his head slightly, gesturing for Takahashi to get back to what he’d been doing. “Do forgive me, Takahashi-kun.”

“…N-no, it’s okay…” he sighed, his attention shifting back to the counter. He wasn’t quite sure why the others have decided to watch him bake, but he wouldn’t have minded if the atmosphere hadn’t been so awkward.

“Did you do something to him, or what?” Hayama yelled from the back, stopping her conversation with Akiyama to join in on theirs.

“I’m sure he didn’t,” Tsutsui interjected, although she didn’t seem quite as certain as she was trying to make herself sound. Leisurely resting her chin on her hand, Hayama wasn’t convinced either.

“Don’t go easy on him just because he looks like a goody two-shoes, Tsutsui-chan.”

 “A goody two-shoes…?” Natsume seemed to find that phrase quite peculiar, turning it around in his head. “Was that directed towards me, Hayama-san? I don’t believe I’ve done anything to offend Takahashi-kun on purpose, but it is possible I may have overstepped some boundaries without meaning to.”

He clearly didn’t get the meaning right, but Hayama didn’t bother explaining it to him.

All eyes turned to Takahashi, and Akiyama finally spoke up as well.

“Takahashi-kun, you should probably mention it to Natsume-kun if you can think of anything. He seems to be somewhat of an idi-“ he cut himself off, clearing his throat. “Anyway, he seems rather confused.”

Hayama elbowed him playfully.

“Don’t think I didn’t catch that.”

Akiyama tried his best to look innocent.

Takahashi shrunk a little, starting to feel pressured. He’d have tried to explain it if it was anything else, but this was kind of embarrassing, and he couldn’t just say it in front of anyone else. Besides, it was probably only a one-time thing, so he didn’t need to worry about the incident repeating itself… hopefully.

Nakajima, who’d been rather silent all this time, content with sitting in his usual corner in the kitchen as he toned everyone else out, closed his notepad with a loud ‘thud’.

“If you’re going to be acting like such a doormat, either hide your discomfort completely, or have the decency to explain it,” he said, Tsutsui shooting him a scolding glance.

“Nakajima-chan, don’t be so harsh with him. He’s just being polite.”

“And I’m just being honest,” Nakajima huffed, unwilling to take it back. Takahashi kind of wanted to retort that it was unfair of him to get mad at him because of something like that, and he probably didn’t know what he was talking about anyway if he was making it sound so easy - but he kept it to himself, not wanting to start a fight.

“Was it the bath, perhaps…?” Natsume inquired, and Takahashi froze. “You did appear to be acting somewhat strangely after that.”

Takahashi bit his lip, then let out a small sigh.

“The… b-bath… and the snake.”

Natsume seemed somewhat worried by that last part - Takahashi was hoping he’d focus on that so the others wouldn’t question the first bit.

“Ahh, did my baby startle you? I told you she wouldn’t hurt you, though…” he tapped his chin slowly, putting on a thoughtful expression. Everyone else was probably extremely confused - Takahashi felt kind of bad for them.

“My, what’s this about? Did Natsume-kun get someone knocked up?”

The attention shifted to a rather disheveled looking Minamoto leaning against the doorway, one of her braids half undone, her clothes quite messy. Her smirk seemed a little more drained than before - honestly, Takahashi might’ve found her appearance to be unnerving if he came across her in a dark hallway. She walked inside and immediately collapses on top of one of the benches, Tsutsui peering down at her with a worried look.

“Are you okay, Minamoto-chan…?”

Minamoto slowly raised her head, her face slightly scrunched up.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking.”

“You were in your room all day yesterday, weren’t you? We were kind of worried,” Tsutsui continued, unsure if she should help her up or not. Takahashi finally placed the tray he’d arranged desserts on into the oven, and walked up to the others to join in on the conversation properly, although taking his time.

“I was working on something,” she yawned, shaking some of her hair out of her eyes. “Don’t mind me, just continue talking.”

“You look like you got caught by a tornado,” Nakajima remarked, and Minamoto raised a brow at him.

“And you look out of place. Did you just come here to be a sarcastic ass or what?” she reached for her hair, untying it completely before she began fixing it.

Nakajima puffed his cheeks slightly, turning his head away.

“…I’m just curious about the sweets is all…”

He seemed strangely embarrassed and went quiet after that, and Minamoto nodded to herself, satisfied - until Takahashi walked over to her shyly, asking if he could help. She shrugged and let go of her hair, letting him take care of it.

“Anyway, it’s nothing important, don’t worry about it,” she waved her hand in a dismissive manner, looking over at Natsume. “What was that about you having a child?”

Natsume beamed, raising his arm, only for a snake to poke its head out of his sleeve - causing Takahashi to freeze up for a moment and thank the heavens that he wasn’t standing right next to him unlike before.

“I’m talking about her,” Natsume cheerfully continued, the snake nodding its head as though proving his point. “She is mostly harmless; please do not be scared of her.”

The ‘mostly’ part was what made Takahashi worry regardless.

“Is… is that even allowed?” Hayama shrunk a little - she was probably afraid of snakes, but that was pretty normal. “Bringing pets to school…”

“Ah, it would be quite problematic if it wasn’t,” Natsume let the snake slither back inside, and everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief. “I cannot allow her to leave my side, or else she may not get appropriately cared for. And I have had her ever since I was a child, so naturally I am the most fitting to take care of her.”

Tsutsui seemed to be the only one who was relatively calm, actually kind of interested in Natsume’s pet.

“My, a snake of that size is rare as a house pet,” she tilted her head slightly, Natsume obviously quite happy that she was showing interest. “And I’d imagine it’s rather expensive as well.”

“It was a gift from my father when I was taken in,” Natsume explained, not really noticing how strange that phrasing sounded. Everyone else had gone completely quiet, leaving it to Tsutsui to interrogate him by herself, curious about what they’d find out. He was kind of a weirdo, after all - a weirdo of Komatsu’s caliber.

“By taken in, do you mean adopted?”

“Why, yes. I was rather young at the time, though, so I do not remember much, I’m afraid,” Natsume adjusted his hat slightly, and Tsutsui seemed to think that over for a moment, but only ended up replying with a small nod. Hayama was eager to continue the conversation, though.

“So what, are your stepparents rich or something?”

Akiyama gave him a scolding look, and she opened her arms, wondering what that reaction was for.

“Hayama-san, it’s impolite to ask about someone’s financial situation in that manner,” he shook his head in disbelief, but Natsume didn’t seem to mind.

“I suppose you could say that, although I am not quite sure what would qualify as ‘rich’,” he mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully - just based on his mannerisms alone, even Takahashi could easily deduct that he was from some kind of high class family. Although… he did have some questionable habits that made Takahashi second-guess himself.

Hayama clearly looked like she wanted to ask more, but Minamoto interrupted the conversation once again, swooning over Takahashi’s work with her hair.

“Ahh, that’s so much better than what I can do… Thank you, Takahashi-kun!” she grinned, quite pleased by it. Takahashi smiled sheepishly - it really wasn’t anything special, but it was definitely an improvement over the messy braids she’d had even on the previous day, and it would probably be rude to deny the compliment.

“Don’t worry about it. I have a little sister, and I do her hair pretty often for her,” he took a step back, finally taking a seat.

“Not your mom?” Minamoto played with her hair, seemingly unable to get enough of it. Takahashi replied without missing a beat, quite used to being asked that.

“She’s rarely home, so no. Although my sister often asks her to when we visit her,” he smiled giddily at the memory, then froze immediately at Minamoto’s next question.

“Oh, so she doesn’t live with you?”

He rarely got this far. He quickly composed himself, trying to look not at all suspicious, but Akiyama was faster - it seemed that when he himself wasn’t acting out of line, he was trying to make sure that everyone else was behaving appropriately.

“Geez, all of you are hopeless. Asking something so personal, even though Takahashi-kun looks so uncomfortable by it,” he sighed, and Minamoto shot him a displeased look, pouting, grumbling to herself.

“It wasn’t that personal…”

“It’s fine, Akiyama-kun,” Takahashi quickly spoke up, not wanting the two to be annoyed at each other because of this. “I appreciate the concern, but you don’t have to worry about it.”

“If you’re sure,” Akiyama left it at that, to Takahashi’s relief.

Fortunately the uncomfortable atmosphere was broken rather soon as well as soon as Chiba walked in, perking up once he saw that the oven was on.

“Ooh, what are we eating?”

“Oho, looks like the shota arrived,” Minamoto tilted her head back to peer at him with a sly grin. “Where have you been, Chibi-kun?”

Takahashi had to grab Chiba mid-jump to prevent him from flinging her into a wall.

* * *

 

Evening arrived a lot slower than usual - surprise, surprise, not being able to take any naps lengthens the day by a considerable amount.

Everyone aside from Hanamiya seemed to be taking it quite well until now, but by the evening, it had taken at least a bit of a toll on even his most energetic classmates. They were all yawning quite frequently, people having to shake each other awake, Nakajima practically hissing at people when they tried to do the same with him, and Izumi going around making sure that they were okay one by one.

“Hanamiya-kun, are you alright?”

Speak of the devil.

Hanamiya opened his eyes to see Izumi staring at him in a worried manner, and gave a small, lazy nod, stifling a yawn. He almost managed to drift off yet again, and was pulled to his feet by his collar thanks to Takahashi, who made sure he was steady before letting go of him. Well, he already knew it’d be like this - it was quite obvious that he was having the most difficult time out of everyone, just based on how many times he’d almost passed out even when he was standing up.

“Geez, maybe we should have someone keep watch over you…” Izumi mumbled, then turned his head to see who was around. He’d have probably offered himself if he didn’t have his hands full already. “Actually… maybe we should have everyone stay in pairs, or at least groups. Although that might be a little hard with some people…”

Once he saw Hanamiya’s eyes gradually closing again, he breathed a small sigh, gently grabbing his shoulders.

“Hanamiya-kun, please hang in there,” he pleaded, then rapidly scanned the room, his gaze settling on Fujinomiya, who seemed to be in decent shape. “Fujinomiya-san, could you please help Hanamiya-kun to some coffee?”

Fujinomiya nodded, Komatsu, who’d been standing nearby, perking up, and they both rushed over at the same time, Izumi walking off to check on someone else.

“Yui-tan wants to help too! Is that okay, Fujinomiya-tan?” Komatsu turned her head to give Fujinomiya a wide smile.

“Y-yes, please do…” attempting to hold Hanamiya up by herself, having quite a lot of trouble thanks to her weak frame, she seemed relieved when Komatsu also took hold of him, assisting her in carrying him to the kitchen. Fujinomiya went ahead to go make some coffee, while Komatsu absentmindedly rambled about miscellaneous topics - whether it was to keep herself entertained, or keep him awake, Hanamiya wasn’t sure.

Unable to keep himself standing for long normally, let alone in his current state, Hanamiya took a seat, followed by Komatsu soon after.

“Ooh, also, Yui-tan really liked the bath! The one they have at her place is a lot deeper and she can never reach the bottom…” she pouted, strangely upset by this fact. Hanamiya was barely listening at this point, but nodded anyway to show that he was still awake, not wanting her to raise her voice. Sure, it was helpful, but it also made his head hurt more.

Fujinomiya handed a cup of coffee over to him, and he sighed in relief before taking small sips, wanting to have something that he could properly focus on.

“How have you been, by the way, Fujinomiya-san?”

Fujinomiya blinked, confused - Hanamiya really wasn’t one to initiate small talk, but his face was nearly blank as always, even lazier than usual to be expressive. Komatsu’s voice was much, much too dreamy to help, but perhaps Fujinomiya’s own, nervous one could. She tilted her head a little, fidgeting.

“Uhm… I’ve been talking with Sakurauchi-san quite a lot. She’s… she’s very considerate, it’s… r-really nice,” Fujinomiya stuttered, and Hanamiya hummed along. That was a little unexpected, but he did suppose he hadn’t talked to her nearly as much as Fujinomiya had. Perhaps he should revise his opinion on Sakurauchi again.

“Sakurauchi-tan is very nice,” Komatsu chimed in, swaying from side to side. “She promised she’d show Yui-tan how to play harder games! Yui-tan is very excited.”

Hanamiya pressed a hand to his temple as Komatsu got a little louder - figures; he didn’t even have to say anything for her to do that. Maybe he should go look for some painkillers… if there were even any. The store and the storage would be good places to look.

Sensing his distress, Fujinomiya was quick to interrupt.

“That’s lovely, Komatsu-san, that’s very kind of her…” she adjusted her glasses slightly. “B-but could you please quiet down a little?”

Komatsu tilted her head, confused, but ended up only shrugging her shoulders.

“Yui-tan can do that, sure.”

Hanamiya send Fujinomiya a thankful look, and she bashfully averted her gaze.

“I wonder if the others are doing okay… they keep disappearing,” she sighed, obviously bothered by the fact. “This time Kageyama-kun and Aragaki-san… The least they could do is give us a warning…”

“Ooh, Yui-tan knows where they are!” Komatsu suddenly raised her hand, as though she was in class, and the other 2 turned to her, both a little startled. “They’ve been hiding away in Aragaki-tan’s room. When Yui-tan asked them, Aragaki-tan said they were doing some kind of ritual.”

That… sounded more suspicious than anything, and the more Hanamiya thought about it, the more he frowned. She couldn’t possibly mean something like… that, right? They were all underage here… but then again, some seemed to be a lot less concerned by that fact than others.

Seeing how puzzled Fujinomiya seemed to be acting, Hanamiya concluded he should keep his weird ideas to himself.

He gradually went back to toning the other girls out, as they seemed to be just fine holding a conversation by themselves, and stared off to the side, wondering if the cats would even be able to notice if he were to doze off. Even the bathrooms had security cameras, and the stalls were no exception - which was rather creepy, but it wasn’t like they could do anything about it. Perhaps if he just closed his eyes for a few seconds…

“Hanamiya-kun!”

He immediately opened them back up to see Fujinomiya’s mildly panicked gaze boring into him, Komatsu yawning loudly next to her, and he blinked drowsily. Attempting to get only half-assed rest just made him feel sleepier.

“I’m alright…” he mumbled, almost knocking his glasses off in the process when he tried to rub his eyes. He glanced at the clock on the wall - just a bit before midnight -, then stood up with a bit of difficulty and attempted to stretch his back. “…I need to lie down… my back hurts…”

That was probably his own bad for being slouched over like that all the time, but who could blame him when he was so tired? Fujinomiya was torn between following Komatsu, who had aimlessly wandered off, and helping out Hanamiya, but decided on the latter in the end, lending a shoulder so they could get to walking to the storage. It was closer than any of their rooms, and they’d be easier to find if anyone went looking for them.

Once they got there, Hanamiya leaned against the door for a moment, eyes unfocused, barely picking up on the blurry red near his feet. Huh…? He slowly pushed the door open, lifting his head to check to see if there was anyone inside - and managed to just pick up on the familiar pair of high heels before he fell inside face-first, landing on the floor with a dull thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on a scale of 1-10 how obvious was it that this was gonna happen


	4. Blind faith

When Hanamiya woke up, he was lying in a bed - at first he thought he was at home, waking up late as usual, but then the memories slowly came flooding back, and he stopped trying to sit up to focus on his thoughts instead. The last thing he remembered… was passing out in the storage. But he was still alive… so either fainting didn’t count as sleeping, or…

He recalled what he’d noticed.

Blood…

Not a lot, but it was blood alright. And once he replayed the entire scenario in his head, a pretty solid idea formed in his head about who it belonged to. He finally sat up, careful enough not to make himself dizzy with any sudden movements, still feeling extremely drowsy. He probably slept a lot more than usual, considering everything…

He turned his head to see Fujinomiya sitting beside his bed, leaning against the wall, seemingly asleep. That last part, he wasn’t surprised by, but he reached out to gently shake her awake, wanting to know everything that had happened while he was asleep. She probably knew more than him, right?

The first thing he asked her once she stirred from her sleep got straight to the point.

“What happened to Yokoyama-san?”

She froze for a moment, which was more than enough to confirm Hanamiya’s suspicions, and he got out of bed with some difficulty before she could reply.

“H-Hanamiya-kun, you should try to rest more…” Fujinomiya’s voice trailed off when he turned his head towards her, more and more awake by the minute.

“I’ll go get some coffee,” was all he would’ve said at first, but her concerned expression didn’t want to leave his head, so he gave her a small, slow nod. “Thanks for worrying.”

Fujinomiya followed him outside regardless, of course, even if she was a little shy about it, but Hanamiya wanted to see how everyone else was doing at first. And… check the storage again. The memory of the rules made him feel uneasy, knowing that if there was a time limit, he was getting closer to it with every passing second.

The first ones he came across were Takahashi and Akiyama standing by the storage - a rare duo to see. They were most likely charged with guarding the scene. They couldn’t let anyone mess with it after all. Hanamiya waved at them as he passed them by, and they greeted him briefly, both looking somewhat bitter about everything. No matter how obnoxious Yokoyama could get, Hanamiya wouldn’t have wished her dead, so he kind of understood them.

The cafeteria was unusually quiet, despite several people sitting inside of it. Kageyama, who seemed strangely weathered, was sipping a steaming cup of some liquid, Hayama rubbing his back, Sakurauchi sitting a little further away, her gaze on the floor. Once Fujinomiya made sure that Hanamiya arrived in one peace, she hesitantly took a step back before turning around and leaving for the storage again.

“He passed out like you did,” Hayama explained, Kageyama flashing him a weak smile. Well, at least he was alright.

“Are you guys okay?”

A bit of a silly question, but Hanamiya couldn’t help it. Hayama’s smile turned rigid, then slowly melted off, as much as she tried to maintain it.

“…It’s messed up,” she bit her lip. Kageyama looked like he couldn’t agree more, going back to drinking in silence. “Yokoyama-chan of all people too… She still looked like a child.”

Yokoyama would have definitely gotten mad about that comparison, but it’s not like she was here to do so. And she was the shortest one out of all them, her angry expressions more cute than threatening.

Hanamiya blinked, snapping out of his thought process.

“I’ll go get myself a drink, and… see how I can help,” he blurted out, mannerisms way more nervous than usual. He scolded himself mentally; freaking out wouldn’t lead to anything good. At the very least, he had to take a look around… they were going to have a class trial, after all.

As he walked past Sakurauchi, she suddenly stood up, startling him a little. She lifted her head to look at him properly, holding something in her hand and quickly shoving it in his. He looked down to see that it was an empty capsule of some sort, wrapped in a white handkerchief.

“I found this in the bath earlier, but I’m not sure what it is…” she admitted, drawing her hands back. “Hanamiya-san seems… smart, so I thought I’d hand it over.”

Well, that was fair. It seemed like some sort of medicine - they sold them at the store, that much he remembered. Perhaps he should investigate there later. Putting the capsule away into his pocket to make sure he wouldn’t lose it along the way, he promptly thanked Sakurauchi before walking off towards the kitchen for some coffee. She sat back down, her sharp stare boring into his back.

Once he got himself energized a little, he left the room again to go see Yokoyama. When Takahashi spotted him this time, he beckoned him over, handing him some kind of tablet.

“That white cat handed these out while you and Kageyama-kun were out,” he explained, Hanamiya almost dropping it as he attempted to hold it in one hand. “I… think you’ll need it.”

“…Thanks,” he half-mumbled, finally managing to check its contents. The first thing he took note of was a blacked out silhouette of Yokoyama, bits of red on certain spots of her body.

_The victim is Yokoyama Hiromi._

_The body was found inside the storage, lying on its stomach._

_The cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head, causing instantaneous death._

_Additionally, there are several bruises on the victim’s wrists._

He looked up from the tablet to see Takahashi staring at him, Akiyama purposely turned in the other direction, towards the interior of the storage itself, clutching Natsume’s walking stick tight enough for his knuckles to start turning white. Not wanting to linger too much, he stepped inside, Takahashi’s gaze not leaving him.

As soon as he took a single step inside, he was greeted by Natsume kneeling on the ground… above Yokoyama’s body, turning her on her back. If it wasn’t for the dried blood in her hair, it would’ve just looked like she was sleeping.

Natsume’s expression was nearly blank as he performed a thorough body check, seemingly not at all bothered or particularly excited by the fact that he was touching a girl in such ways. Well… the latter was probably for the best.

“I am glad to see you awake, Hanamiya-kun,” he greeted him without looking up, rolling up Yokoyama’s sleeves to reveal some dark blue and purple bruises just underneath. “I trust that Takahashi-kun has handed you the file, yes?”

Hanamiya nodded, stepping closer.

“…Yeah. Have you been here for long?”

“I just started, actually,” Natsume fixed her sleeves, reaching for her jacket to unbutton it next. Before Hanamiya could ask what he was doing, he pulled her jacket off, brows furrowing ever so slightly as he stared at her, perplexed by something. “Do you think Yokoyama-san is the type to skip showers?”

“I- what…?” Hanamiya blinked, unsure whether that question was even directed at him.

Natsume ran his hands over her back.

“Her clothes are soaked in sweat. I have no doubt that she was the anxious type, but even then, this seems a little unnatural,” he mused, reaching for her hair next. “What’s more, there are several knots in her hair, and her clothes are rather messy… how peculiar.”

“…You seem to be pretty okay with this,” Hanamiya noted, as nonchalantly as possible. He didn’t need any confrontations right now. It seemed like Natsume could never be offended by anything at this rate, though, as he simply nodded.

“I am somewhat used to seeing dead bodies. At the orphanage I grew up in, they were not such a rare sight,” he explained, adjusting his glasses. Hanamiya didn’t really have an opportunity to ask him more, though.

“Are you done fondling the body yet?”

If he’d been a scaredy cat, Hanamiya would’ve probably jumped when Nakajima emerged seemingly out of nowhere. Natsume gave him a polite smile, to which his only reply was a scowl.

“I am indeed done, Nakajima-kun. If you wish to make any observations of your own, be my guest.”

Nakajima narrowed his eyes, but decided to ignore him for now, turning to Hanamiya.

“She probably wasn’t killed here, I’d check every place here just in case if I were you.”

He ripped a page out of his notepad, holding it out for Hanamiya to take and immediately began walking off when he did so, clearly not in the mood for a conversation. Well, Hanamiya could ask him about that later. For now he should take his… advice, if he could call it that, although he wasn’t quite sure what made Nakajima think that. The room looked even messier than before, so at least some kind of commotion must have happened here, if not the murder itself. Perhaps it was the blood outside…?

“I agree with Nakajima-kun, although… my theory is a little more specific,” Natsume dusted his hands off once he fixed the corpse back to its original position, straightening up.

Hanamiya made a low humming sound.

“The bath is closed during nighttime, right? I think everything else is free…”

“You are correct,” Natsume’s smile widened, and he bowed politely before leisurely walking past him. “I would like to exchange more ideas, but I’m afraid we only have a limited time to do this, so if you don’t mind… I will go see if my hypothesis is correct.”

“…You do that,” Hanamiya sighed, and Natsume disappeared with a wave.

He glanced at Yokoyama’s corpse, then turned away, uncomfortable with the sight. Not wanting to stick around for too long, he hesitantly turned around, leaving the storage only to run into a distraught Izumi outside. When the other boy raised his head to look at him, Hanamiya wondered if he should say something to him, but didn’t need to decide as Izumi spoke first.

“Hanamiya-kun… Could I ask you for something?”

Hanamiya nodded, and Izumi averted his gaze.

“During the trial… no matter what happens,” he closed his eyes, “please don’t lose faith in me.”

And with that short sentence, he entered the storage, leaving Hanamiya by himself once more…

…If it weren’t for the curious gaze of Takahashi, and the silent, sharper one of Akiyama. Before they could ask him what he thought that might have been about, he was already walking towards the store. He had something he wanted to verify.

Inside, he was greeted by Chiba and Komatsu, the latter chasing the former around as he attempted to distance himself from her as much as possible. When Chiba spotted him, he raised his voice.

“Oh look, it’s Hanamiya!”

As Komatsu turned her head, Chiba dashed past him, leaving the girl pouting in annoyance.

“Geez, Yui-tan just wanted to chat…”

She opened her mouth, possibly to complain more, but Hanamiya cut her off with a wave of his hand, walking up to one of the shelves to begin scanning it.

“Not now. I need to focus.”

As he scanned item after item, it took him a while, but he finally found what he was looking for. He removed the small box labeled ‘sleeping pills’, holding it in his hands and narrowing his eyes slightly. The pills were in tiny capsules, and their appearance matched the one that Sakurauchi came across. What’s more, it was the only box of medicine that had been opened - the store didn’t have many of them, so it didn’t take long to check. Didn’t Sakurauchi say she found it in the bath? Who would need something like this in a place like that…?

He sank the item back into his pocket, then examined the actual interior.

Was this where the murder took place, perhaps…? He couldn’t see any sign of blood, no matter how he looked, so perhaps not…

“Is Hanamiya-tan looking for something else?” Komatsu inquired, her smile filled with childish innocence. “Yui-tan wants to help, because she wants to be Hanamiya-tan’s friend!”

Hanamiya bit his lip.

“…Komatsu-san, if you wanted to hide a murder weapon, how would you do it?”

He wasn’t even sure why that was the question he went with, out of all the ones he had, but Komatsu seemed to take it seriously, tapping her chin as she thought it over.

“A murder weapon…?” she echoed, tilting her head. “Yui-tan isn’t quite sure… but when boys hide naughty things, don’t they usually hide them under their beds?”

Hanamiya’s shoulders dropped, and he raised his hands to massage his temples, Komatsu clueless about his reaction. She was clearly the last person to ask about these things, that much he had deducted. He highly doubted a silly answer like that could help him.

He furrowed his brows, straining his memory to recount the places he hadn’t checked yet.

There was the bath, and also… Yokoyama’s room. It would be a good idea to at least take a look at it.

“I’ll be in the bath,” he said suddenly, already walking towards the exit. Komatsu shrieked in delight, wanting to follow him outside, but he promptly shut the door behind him, dusting his hands off. First, the changing room.

The sweltering heat was even more intense than before, when he entered, and he tugged on his collar to open it a little, frowning in discomfort. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to stay for long. Minamoto, on the other hand, didn’t even seem to notice the increase in temperature, as she stayed crouched on the floor, staring at something. When he approached her, she flinched, only noticing him once he was right behind her.

“Don’t scare me like that…” she breathed a sigh of relief, but Hanamiya couldn’t have looked apologetic even if he’d wanted to.

“What are you doing?” too lazy to crouch down or bend forward himself, he remained in the same position, and Minamoto pointed at the bench that was nearest to the door.

“I sat down on this earlier, and it made this awful creaking sound,” she cringed at the memory of it, her face scrunching up slightly. “Do you think it’s broken?”

Hanamiya reluctantly knelt down to ran his hand over the wood, until he came across a rather large crack. He frowned.

“Looks like it. Was it like this before?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Minamoto pursed her lips. “And I highly doubt I broke it by sitting on it. Someone must have knocked it over or something. Geez…”

Hanamiya stood back up, stretching his back a little. Maybe so. When he looked back at Minamoto, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

“By the way, you should go check Yokoyama-san’s room.”

“On it,” Hanamiya shrugged, removing his glasses to wipe the lenses once they started fogging up, but Minamoto continued.

“Izumi-kun’s too. Just in case.”

“Izumi-kun’s room…?” he raised a brow. “Why?”

“Because she clearly liked him the most out of everyone here, and he had the best chances for backstabbing her,” she replied simply, standing up as well. “It won’t hurt to check.”

He supposed that was fair enough. Izumi didn’t look like someone who’d do such a thing, but then again, nobody here really did. Except maybe a select few…

He quickly shook his head, halting the thought process.

“Guess so. I’ll do that once I’m done here, then…”

Minamoto gave him a small nod, and he turned to the actual bath. He’d never been inside, as he didn’t exactly get an opportunity to just yet, but he pushed the door open to stick his head inside, wiping his glasses once more, a little more frustrated this time. Fumbling around blindly in a hallway was one thing; doing it in a room where there was a chance for him to fall into a giant body of water was another.

The first thing that caught his attention is that this was the first room he found that had no security cameras or monitors. Perhaps because the lenses would just fog up anyway…? Practically continuously cleaning his glasses by now, Hanamiya turned his head to examine the room properly, blinking in surprise once he spotted something on the ground. He crouched down carefully, making sure not to fall in. Was he… imagining it, or was the floor a little red? Leaning more and more forward so he could get a better look, he just barely managed to stop his glasses form landing in the water.

Was that… paint, or something else…? He wasn’t sure if he should touch it.

He drew his hand back, having been in the middle of reaching for it, and shook his head. It looked pretty dry anyway; he probably wouldn’t be able to figure anything out just by touching it. But it wouldn’t hurt to remember it for later.

Minamoto was still in the changing room when he returned, and despite the fact that they were both soaked in sweat, she didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest. Hanamiya grabbed one of the towels hanging from the wall to try to rub himself dry for the most part - although his clothes remained wet -, then quickly walked outside, breathing a sigh of relief at the feeling of cool air. He had no doubts the bath would be nice to use for its original purpose, but walking inside fully-clothed for a long period of time was torturous.

Next would be… Yokoyama’s room, then. He stopped in front of the door, only for Akiyama to shout in his direction, being able to see him perfectly from his current position.

“You’re not planning on entering a girl’s room without permission, are you?”

He turned his head towards the waiter, enduring the look of disapproval trained on him, and shrugged his shoulders.

“I kind of need to. Unless you want us to miss a clue and let her killer get away,” his expression remained blank with the exception of a raised brow, and unable to argue with that, Akiyama rolled his eyes, reluctantly accepting it.

“…Alright then, fuck it.”

It seemingly didn’t even register to him that he just swore until he saw the same look he’d just given Hanamiya in Takahashi’s eyes, and he cleared his throat to regain his composure.

“Slip of the tongue, I apologise.”

Hanamiya stepped inside.

The room was similar to his own - the same layout, the same closet next to the same bed, the same desk on the opposite side, and the same shelves lining the walls. Her room was a lot less messier, though - in fact, it was carefully organized, with no empty cans or anything of the kind in sight. Her bin was overflowing with crumpled up papers, but her desk wasn’t cluttered in the slightest, the items on top arranged in a simple manner. There was an empty sheet of paper in the middle with a pen next to it - she was trying to write something, judging by that arrangement and all the paper she’d thrown out.

Now… Hanamiya really wasn’t one to pry about these things. If he had to be honest, he really couldn’t care less about what people were doing with their own free time. But if there was a clue to the culprit, if there was anything that could help them, he should take his chances.

He reached inside the bin, uncrumpling the first sheet - and raised a brow at what was written on it.

It looked like some kind of letter - or at least an attempt at it. There was no name on it anywhere, but just based on the handwriting alone, and the fact that it was half-finished, he could guess that it had been written by Yokoyama. Many words were crossed out or straight up scribbled over, but at least the contents were rather straightforward.

_I would like to apologise to everyone ahead of time, as I’m writing this. I’m about to do something very reckless. If something happens to Izumi-kun_

It ended rather abruptly - perhaps she couldn’t make up her mind about what she wanted to add. Hanamiya frowned, wondering what Izumi had to do with this. He should ask him about this later. He placed the letter in his pocket, and was about to check the rest of the papers, when he noticed a shadow looming over him. He craned his neck, tilting it back to see Tsutsui staring down at him with her phone in her hand.

“Looking through a girl’s trash isn’t very gentlemanly of you, Hanamiya-chan.”

Letting his classmates die probably wouldn’t be very gentlemanly either. Tsutsui smiled, though - or at least it seemed like she did -, crouching down next to him.

“But it’s for the greater good, so I’ll let it slide. Let me help.”

They looked through the rest of the papers together - almost half of them were different variations of the one Hanamiya had pocketed, their lengths varying, while the rest were addressed to specific classmates, and contained short apologies. The last one was for Izumi - it was probably the first one she wrote, or at least the first one she’d thrown out.

_Thank you for cutting my hair. And thank you for your kindness. I am truly grateful. If, by any chance, your plan fails, please don’t blame yourself for it._

_I want to save everyone here just as much as you do. I’ll take responsibility for my own actions._

_Your compliment made me happy._

Hanamiya placed it in his pocket, and Tsutsui didn’t object.

* * *

 

In the end, he hadn’t taken Minamoto’s advice. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the letters he’d found in Yokoyama’s room. Perhaps it was the guilt-ridden expression Izumi had been wearing until now. Or… perhaps it was just a simple, childish desire to believe in his classmates. He couldn’t tell.

But whichever one it was, he supposed it didn’t matter. Even if he didn’t look, someone else probably did. So… it should be fine.

The monitors soon lit up, showing an image of Kuroneko and Shironeko, the former pinning the latter down onto some kind of table.

“Time’s up, children! Gather in front of my lovely monument if you don’t want to be shishkebabbed.”

Shironeko suddenly rose, sending Kuroneko tumbling down and disappearing from view. Hanamiya heard a faint thud in the background, and Shironeko dusted himself off before placing his hands on his hips.

“I hope you all used the time you’ve been given wisely. Please make sure not to be late!”

The screens went dark, and Hanamiya groaned. By monument, she most likely meant that statue. Were they just going to sit in a circle? That… sounded kind of silly. Although that probably shouldn’t have been a word to use to describe a life-threatening situation.

Well… regardless, he did as the cats had told him to, walking up to the statue to already find some people waiting there. The first person his gaze settled on was Kageyama, and he reached into his pocket to fish out one of the letters. Maybe it would’ve been better if he’d just forgotten about them, but somehow, he felt obligated to hand them out regardless. There weren’t a lot, anyway.

Kageyama raised a brow when Hanamiya simply shoved it in his hands. Hanamiya stared off to the side as Kageyama’s gaze slowly shifted back to it, starting to read. It was quite short, just like all the other ones; Hanamiya could remember it word-by-word.

_I apologise for any trouble my strict nature may have caused. While I would like to take it upon myself to make sure my classmates are behaving properly, I would also wish to become friends, if possible, and I understand if my behavior has prevented you from thinking of us as such._

_Ps.: Please fix your hat._

Once he finished reading it, Kageyama reached up to touch his hat, then adjusted it from its crooked position without a word.

They didn’t need to wait for long once everyone had arrived; the statue began spinning around, rising into the air as what seemed like an elevator emerged from underneath it. The door slid open, and all 15 students looked at each other before entering one by one, Hanamiya being the last one to step inside.

They didn’t descend for very long - before they knew it, the doors opened once again, revealing some kind of court room. There were 16 pedestals in a circle, with a pair of thrones in the far back, Kuroneko and Shironeko having already sat down onto them. One of the pedestals had a black and white portrait of Yokoyama behind it, crossed out with 2 red, pen-shaped silhouettes.

When Kuroneko spotted them, she leapt to her feet.

“Finally, geez, I thought you’d never arrive! Damn slowpokes…”

“Please stand in the spots assigned to you,” Shironeko gestured towards the pedestals, making a point to ignore Kuroneko on the side. The black cat didn’t take that too well, and leapt at him with an angry hiss, almost knocking him off his seat.

Hanamiya bit his lip. He’d never been the nervous type, but he had to admit this was getting to him a little bit. Hopefully they’d be able to manage. Otherwise…

The trial begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nyahaha


	5. Caught red-handed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got this out extra fast bc i needed to channel my frustration for things by venting through writing :))))))))

Smacking Shironeko over the head with a paper fan, Kuroneko jumped back onto her original seat, picking up the scepter that had been laid across it and waving it around to gather everyone’s attention.

“Let’s start with a basic explanation for the denser ones!”

She raised her scepter high up, tone rather grandiose.

“Your votes will determine the result. If you can figure out the culprit, only they will receive punishment. But,” she cackled sharply, causing several students to flinch, “if you pick the wrong person, we’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and they alone will get to go home free!”

“Everyone, good luck! I’m rooting for you, unlike that meanie over there,” Shironeko exclaimed, shooting a sideways glance at Kuroneko who simply shrugged her shoulders.

“So… one of us killed Yokoyama-chan, huh,” Hayama let out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms. “I have no idea which one of you it was, but you better fess up right now, unless you want a black eye later.”

“As if that’d make anyone confess,” Chiba rolled his eyes, but Hayama’s arms remained in the same position.

“I won’t hold back,” she sounded a little uncertain about it, but Hanamiya had no doubts she could go through with it if she wanted to.

“Let’s all calm down, first things first,” Izumi interjected, causing both parties to turn their heads away with a huff. “If we’re doing this… we should probably each establish our alibis.”

“Alibis?” Komatsu tilted her head, clearly puzzled by that word. “What’s an alibi? Can Yui-tan eat it?”

“Before that,” completely ignoring Komatsu’s question, Nakajima straightened his back. He was probably the one everyone was least expecting to speak up, so he got quite a few curious looks. “The location should be clarified.”

“By location… you mean the storage, right?” Takahashi carefully asked, but Nakajima shook his head.

“She probably wasn’t killed there. There’s blood outside the door, but almost none inside of it.”

“Then… maybe she was attacked somewhere else, and stumbled in there…?”

“Did you even read the file?” Nakajima raised a brow, annoyed by the other boy’s lack of a memory. “Her death was instant, and she got the hit outside of the room, otherwise there’d be at least traces of blood in there.”

“The killer could’ve just cleaned it up…” Takahashi attempted to argue, only to be shot down by Nakajima once more.

“There’s no reason for them to do that if they just end up leaving the body anyway. Besides, if they were going to clean up the blood, they should’ve also cleaned the blood left in front of the door up properly,” he narrowed his eyes, his hands on his hips. “Think before you speak, for fuck’s sake.”

Takahashi seemed like he wanted to retort for a change, but only exhaled slowly in the end, letting his shoulders drop.

“Maybe you should fix your attitude first, Nakajima,” Chiba was clearly trying to look intimidating, but it wasn’t really doing much with his baby face and all. “Or are you so focused on being a gloomy jackass, that-“

“No fighting,” Izumi said firmly, shutting Chiba up. “Nakajima-kun, if you could please expand on your theory in a _polite_ way this time…?”

“Pardon for my interruption,” Natsume raised his hand slightly, adjusting his glasses, “but I agree with Nakajima-kun. When I examined Yokoyama-san’s body, her clothes were soaked in sweat. I believe she must have gone to the bath shortly before she was murdered.”

“…Even if she’d gone to the bath, there’s no reason for her to have died there,” Chiba spoke in a much calmer tone this time, albeit he was still glaring daggers at Nakajima on the side. “Was there any blood at the bath, then?”

A short silence fell upon them, and Hanamiya took it upon himself to break it.

“I found something that I _think…_ was blood. Most of it had been cleaned up, though.”

“You _think_ , or you’re _sure_?” Minamoto raised a brow, and Hanamiya gave her a look of mild annoyance.

“I think. Make of that what you will.”

Minamoto’s lips stretched into a faint grin as she played with the ends of her scarf.

“Kidding. I found it too when I looked inside earlier. That was definitely blood.”

Hanamiya breathed a small, exasperated sigh, and Natsume picked the conversation back up.

“If she _was_ killed in the bath, that means we can narrow down the timeframe. The body discovery announcement sounded at around midnight, if I am not mistaken… but the bath is closed during nighttime,” he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “When was the last time she was seen before that?”

“Hayama-san and I saw her leave her room just a little after 8pm,” Akiyama spoke up, Hayama nodding beside him. “She was with Izumi-kun if my memory serves me right.”

“Doesn’t that mean Izumi-kun probably did it, then?” Minamoto tilted her head, and Izumi visibly paled.

“I- I would never harm someone like that, especially not a girl…” his voice trailed off, and he shook his head. “B-but anyway, please refrain from suspecting anyone so easily.”

“Sure, sure…” she shrugged.

“So the murder occurred sometime between 8pm and 10pm…” Natsume mused, before clapping his hands twice, flashing a polite smile. “You may take back the lead, Izumi-kun. My deepest apologies for my disturbance.”

“…It’s alright,” Izumi sighed, standing a little straighter to try to compensate for his obvious distaste for what Minamoto said. He combed his fingers through his hair, composing his expression completely. “Now that we have a more specific timeframe… I suggest all of you tell us what you were doing, and if you happened to be with someone else.”

He’d gone into more detail this time for the sake of the ones who didn’t understand before, but cleared his throat before they could speak up.

“On that note, as you may be aware, I was checking on everyone, and as such, can’t provide an alibi of my own. But,” he looked to Minamoto, who averted her gaze with an innocent expression, “please refrain from jumping to any conclusions so early.”

 “Uhm…” Fujinomiya raised her hand next. “H-Hanamiya-kun and I have been together the whole time. Komatsu-san wandered off at some point towards the end, but… I don’t think there was enough time for her to… k-kill anyone.”

Izumi looked to Hanamiya for confirmation, and he nodded. Komatsu didn’t look particularly strong either - it’d take her a while to drag someone from the bath to the storage. She couldn’t have done that much in the amount of time it took Fujinomiya and Hanamiya to get there.

“Aragaki and I were in her room pretty much the entire time,” Kageyama flicked his hat, Aragaki closing her eyes.

“My servant speaks the truth indeed. As such, there is no reason to suspect either of us.”

“Not unless one of you is an accomplice…” Minamoto hummed, but Fujinomiya raised her voice slightly, her fidgeting intensifying.

“Only one p-person gets to go free, right? S-so…”

“There’s no reason for an accomplice to exist,” Hanamiya finished her thought, and she sent him a thankful glance. “They wouldn’t get to leave themselves, so I don’t see why they’d want to help the killer.”

“On that note, Minamoto-san, since you seem to be so eager to accuse anyone and everyone,” taking up a stern tone, Izumi frowned slightly, “where were you last night?”

“Nice try, Izumi-kun,” she placed a hand on her hip, finally letting go of her scarf. “I was in the cafeteria with Natsume-kun and Tsutsui-san. I saw Hanamiya-kun stumble outside just before the body discovery announcement sounded.”

“I can confirm that,” Natsume added, to Minamoto’s utmost satisfaction. Izumi dropped her case for now, wanting to focus on the actual murder itself - Hanamiya could sympathize.

Izumi went through the rest of the students - Chiba and Nakajima had been in their rooms, and similarly to Izumi, Takahashi walked around, trying to see if everyone else was alright. Thus, those 3 had no proper alibis. On the other hand, Hayama, Akiyama and Sakurauchi had spent the evening together as well, playing cards in the latter’s room to keep themselves occupied.

“Putting the other 3 aside,” Hayama mused out loud, “Is Nakajima-kun even strong enough to carry someone all the way from the bath to the storage?”

Nakajima seemed quite offended by that, but Hayama continued.

“I saw you struggling to drag your chair to the corner in the kitchen, so I’m just wondering.”

Nakajima cleared his throat, doing his best to regain his composure.

“…Okay, m-maybe I’m not ridiculously athletic like the rest of you. Anything wrong with that?” he scowled, and Hayama grinned.

“Thought so. I think we can cross him off too. Yokoyama-san was quite short, but I doubt Nakajima-kun would be strong enough for this.”

Nakajima huffed, but as this helped divert suspicion from him, he didn’t object out loud.

“So the ones that don’t have alibis…” Izumi’s frown deepened, “are me, Takahashi-kun, and Chiba-kun.”

Minamoto opened her mouth, but Akiyama was faster.

“I’d really rather we refrained from any unnecessary arguments, like Izumi-kun said earlier.”

Minamoto pouted.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say…” she turned her head away with a simple ‘hmph’, and Akiyama gripped his podium, his jaw visibly clenching. He let out a small yelp of surprise when Hayama lightly poked the back of his knee with her own.

“Relax,” she gave his shoulder a small pat, to which his position reluctantly relaxed, albeit his lips remained tightly pursed. “And Minamoto-san, I agree. Do us a favor for a moment and shut up.”

Being ganged up on like that didn’t seem like something Minamoto wanted to deal with, so she decided to back off once more.

“In any case…” Hanamiya stifled a yawn, lifting one of his hands to count as he spoke. “We have the time and place of death… what about the murder weapon?”

And that was about as long as Minamoto’s silence lasted. She reached underneath one of her sweaters, pulling out what seemed like a small-sized towel rack, part of it suspiciously red.

“I found this under Izumi-kun’s bed,” she waved it around in the air, quite proud of her discovery. Was that why she’d been so loud until now? “Seeing as how I have an alibi, we can skip the part where you all assume that I’m lying.”

Izumi, rather stunned by what she just said, took a few seconds to find his voice.

“B-but… I didn’t kill her, I had no reason to-“

“Then why was this in your room, I wonder?” Minamoto cut him off, before raising the piece of metal above her head. “You just had to swing it at her like this, and she wouldn’t even notice anything until it would be too-“

Natsume caught her wrist, and she turned her head in his direction to give him a questioning look. He pointed at the item in her hand, smile as cool and composed as ever.

“May I?”

Minamoto handed the towel rack over, and Natsume turned it around with his hand, running one of his gloved fingers over the dark red liquid that had dried on it and scraping off a small amount. To everyone’s horror and disgust respectively, he raised his hand to his mouth, sticking his tongue out slightly to lick some of the material.

“Ah, I believe this is paint,” he handed the metal back to Minamoto, acting as though he hadn’t just done something incredibly weird. “They sell it at the store, as far as I remember. Assuming you are indeed not lying…” he dusted his hands off, “someone did a rather sloppy job of trying to frame Izumi-kun.”

Izumi exhaled a sigh of relief, while Minamoto seemed kind of embarrassed by her mistake, lifting her scarf slightly to cover the lower half of her face.

“W-well, anybody could mix those 2 up with these circumstances…” she averted her gaze. Izumi seemed like he kind of wanted to tease her about it, obviously annoyed by her behavior from earlier, but held back for the sake of being mature.

“Right. Any other ideas?”

Something in Hanamiya’s head clicked, and he raised his hand to everyone’s surprise.

“What if there it wasn’t a concrete weapon that killed her?”

“How foolish,” Aragaki shook her head in disbelief, her eyes boring into Hanamiya’s own with intensity. “Are you trying to suggest some kind of creature took her life? With me around, I doubt they would dare approach.”

“So… is Hanamiya-san saying that Yokoyama-san was killed by a ghost?” Sakurauchi tilted her head, and Hanamiya felt the strangest urge to bash his head into the podium. Lightly, of course.

“Of course not…” his glasses slowly slipping from his face for the umpteenth time that day, he paid them no mind as he gripped his podium loosely, leaning a little forward so he wouldn’t have to keep talking so loud. Not that it probably helped much, but he could always pretend. “I’m saying she hit her head on something. The floor in the bath is pretty slippery; it’s not that hard to fall in there. She could’ve been pushed.”

“By a ghost?” Sakurauchi asked, but luckily, Aragaki shot her down before Hanamiya had to.

“O-of course not! T-to think that you w-would rely on such a silly theory… I am disappointed in you, feline one.”

“…Let’s stop talking about things that make no sense and just move along,” Hanamiya suggested, feeling unusually annoyed. He hadn’t gotten this worked up over something in a very long time. Perhaps it was the stress… _Hopefully_ , it was just the stress.

“I support Hanamiya-kun’s theory,” fortunately, Natsume was helpful as always. Creepy as he could be, at least he was contributing a pretty good amount. “Her clothes seemed rather messy, which _could_ have been caused by someone here by accident, but her bruises weren’t there before the incident itself. I believe she must have gotten into some kind of fight for her to end up like that.”

All eyes turned to Chiba, and he frowned in annoyance.

“Why are you all looking at _me_ like that? I could easily disarm her without injuring her, you know.”

Well, that was true. And Takahashi could probably just pick her up without her being able to fight back as well.

That… left Izumi to be the most likely suspect once again, but Hanamiya had trouble believing that. Besides, they weren’t going to get anywhere with maybes. They needed solid evidence if they wanted to avoid being executed.

For the first time in forever, Tsutsui raised her hand.

“Hanamiya-chan and I found some letters in Yokoyama-chan’s trash,” as she continued typing on her phone, the others sent the 2 of them obviously weirded out looks, Akiyama looking absolutely scandalized. Hanamiya shrugged. “Yokoyama-chan mentioned something about a plan of yours, Izumi-chan. You still have it, right, Hanamiya-chan?”

Hanamiya nodded, reaching inside his pocket. The ones he hadn’t handed out yet aside from Izumi’s belonged to Chiba and Takahashi respectively, and he gave them out now alongside the one for Izumi, figuring that it’d be better than holding onto them. Might as well, Kageyama had already gotten his. Takahashi’s mood only seemed to worsen, his expression more guilty than before as he reached for his jacket to fix it up, and Chiba touched the plaster on his face briefly before subtly shaking his head to snap back to reality

Once Izumi read the letter, his expressions shifted to an unreadable one, and he slowly lowered his hands. Tsutsui waited patiently for his response, her phone clutched in her own, her head gradually tilting to the side. Izumi bit his lip.

“I suppose I can’t really get away with keeping this a secret…” he sighed, lifting his gaze. “I would’ve preferred to tell you guys without… _those 2_ present,” he glanced at the cats from the corner of his eye, “but seems like that’s not really an option.”

“You haven’t broken the rules, have you, Izumi-nyan?” Kuroneko rose from her seat slightly; Hanamiya cringed. That was the first time he heard any of the plushies call a student by their name, and he kind of wished they hadn’t.

Izumi simply shook his head.

“I haven’t done anything to violate the rules. Rather… I didn’t get to.”

He exhaled softly, as though preparing himself for a confession of some kind.

“The security cameras are for observing us, right?” he raised his head to look at a camera hanging from the ceiling, frowning. “The mastermind of this killing game is probably using them to keep an eye on us. I was thinking… if we could deactivate them somehow, we wouldn’t have to worry about breaking the rules.”

“D-deactivate them…?” Fujinomiya repeated, hugging herself a little tighter. “But how were you going to do that?”

Something flashed in Sakurauchi’s eyes.

“I know, I know!” she raised both of her hands, eager to share whatever she’d just come up with. “They sell some at the store; I recognise the model! They aren’t waterproof, right?”

“They aren’t, no,” Izumi shook his head. “But you’d still need to fully submerge them to disable them. I tested it out with one of the cameras from the store. And the bath is full of steam, so if we could just remove them from the walls without damaging them, they’d have no idea which one of us had deactivated which, and they wouldn’t know who to ‘punish’.”

“I see…” Tsutsui’s fingers paused for a second. “That was a great idea, Izumi-chan.”

“Too bad that it’s not happening!” Kuroneko huffed, Shironeko crossing his arms sternly.

“Geez, maybe we should be more careful in the future… If you guys will keep doing things like that,” he pretended to cry until a small pebble that Kuroneko launched at him smacked him over the head.

“Maybe I should just punish you anyway, huh,” Kuroneko mused, causing Izumi to flinch.

“I haven’t broken any-“

“I know you haven’t, I’m just trying to scare you,” she cut him off with a small ‘hmph’. “Or I might just give you a smaller punishment; nothing says that I can’t do that.”

“…A-anyway,” Izumi cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus on the trial instead of his argument with the cat. He still looked a little pale though. “If Yokoyama-san went to the bath by herself, it might’ve been because of that. That’s… all I know, really.”

Hanamiya made a low humming sound, rubbing his chin.

“Izumi-kun… that plan didn’t include sleeping pills, right?” he asked that so out of nowhere, Izumi had to wait a second before he could even reply.

“N-no, there was nothing like that involved. Why?” he stared at Hanamiya, perplexed, and the latter took out the capsule Sakurauchi had given him earlier.

“Sakurauchi-san found this at the bath… I think,” he frowned slightly, trying to remember. Before anyone could remark on it or mock him for it, Sakurauchi went ahead and confirmed it.

“Yeah, it was just lying on the floor. I almost stepped on it by accident…” she puffed her cheeks out slightly, her hands on her hips. “I gave it to Hanamiya-san could so he could figure out what it is.”

The attention shifted back to Hanamiya, and Izumi spoke before he could.

“Sleeping pills…?”

“Yep,” Hanamiya nodded, playing with the capsule in his hand. “I went to the store to check. With our current circumstances and all, I doubt someone took it for themselves…”

They could have taken it for later use, of course, but there was no reason for it to be in the bath of all places. And it wouldn’t have been empty either if they’d taken it for that, most likely.

“Who took it is the question…” Natsume hummed, glancing around the room. “I imagine if Hanamiya-kun knew, he would have mentioned it at the start.”

That was correct.

And then the person everyone was least expecting to be helpful raised their hand, swaying from side to side; Komatsu, who’d barely been paying attention the entire time, humming some kind of song to herself during the discussion, was currently reaching so high with her arm that it looked like it could pop out of its socket.

“Yui-tan knows! She tried to talk to Chiba-tan at the store yesterday before she joined Hanamiya-tan!”

Chiba visibly shivered, but Komatsu either didn’t seem to notice it, or just gave it no thought.

“ _I_ didn’t see who took it,” he said before anyone could ask him about it, acting strangely defensive. He probably just didn’t wanna confess that he was intimidated by such a small-sized, weak-looking girl. “Quite a few people walked by. And I doubt-“

“It was Kageyama-tan,” Komatsu stated cheerfully, cutting Chiba off mid-sentence. The boy froze, turning his head towards Kageyama, who seemed to be playing with his hat.

“But Kageyama has an alibi, doesn’t he?”

“Aragaki-chan confirmed it,” Hayama nodded, confused by the accusation. “Maybe the actual killer stole it from him.”

“But why would he take it in the first place…?” Nakajima mumbled, arms crossed. “He took it yesterday, right? By that time, the no-sleeping rule was already in effect. He would hardly need it anytime soon.”

Hanamiya frowned, the cogs in his brain turning rapidly. If Kageyama was involved in this, why would Aragaki try to cover for him? She’d have nothing to gain from it, unless…

He closed his eyes.

If someone was making up an alibi, it more than likely wasn’t a 3 person group, so Natsume, Tsutsui, Minamoto, Hayama, Akiyama and Sakurauchi were out. Fujinomiya and Komatsu were with him the entire time, so it obviously wasn’t one of them, and Takahashi and Chiba would have no trouble disarming such a small girl without leaving bruises.

That left Izumi, Aragaki, Nakajima and Kageyama as the only ones left that it could be.

Nakajima was clearly the least athletic person out of all of them, with the possible exception of Hanamiya himself, and he probably wouldn’t have dragged Yokoyama all the way to the storage and risk being spotted in the process. As for Izumi, it was possible that he had framed himself in such a sloppy manner specifically to divert suspicion from himself, but…

There was a rather easy test that they could do. It might not prove anything, but it was worth a shot.

Hanamiya opened his eyes once more to stare at Kageyama’s arms. His sleeves were rolled up as always, and there were no signs of injury. His gaze slowly shifted to Izumi’s much longer, almost oversized sleeves, and Aragaki’s wristbands.

“Izumi-kun, could you roll up your sleeves?”

Izumi blinked in confusion, but did as Hanamiya asked him to, holding up his hands afterwards.

“Like this…?”

Same as Kageyama.

Hanamiya turned to Aragaki.

“Aragaki-san, please remove your wristbands.”

Her cold stare wasn’t enough to deter him, and he stared at her with quiet determination. If it’d help them get closer to a conclusion _at all_ , he wasn’t going to back down from confrontation this time - but in the end, there was no need to, as she reluctantly pulled her wristbands off, her arms hanging by her sides afterwards.

His sight wasn’t that great even with glasses on, that much was true - but even from his current position, Hanamiya didn’t miss the blue and purple bruises covering her wrists. She didn’t say anything, only standing silently, as though only waiting to be accused.

He should’ve had a feeling. She’d been oddly quiet almost the entire time, and she definitely didn’t seem like the type who’d just want to stand by during something like this. Maybe if he’d been more observant, maybe if he’d tried to focus more, he’d have noticed something.

Because her current behavior was worth a thousand words.

Kageyama’s laidback shield started to crack. Signs of nervousness were already showing when he was simply fiddling with his hat, but he suddenly yanked it from his head, clutching it tightly with both of his hands.

“This is… wrong, right? Something like this… It’s never happened before…”

As he muttered to himself, his knuckles started to turn white, and his voice steadily rose in volume.

“Aragaki didn’t do anything, you know. She’s innocent, she’s not-“

“Kageyama-kun.”

Kageyama froze.

That was the first time Hanamiya heard her call anyone by their name.

Aragaki avoided eye contact, but her back was straight and her head was raised defiantly. Her hands slowly curled up into fists, gripping her wristbands tighter and tighter.

“There’s no point in letting this continue. The miracle you were hoping for… it’s not going to happen,” her eyes narrowed, but despite the sheer anger she seemed to be emitting, her tone was a regretful, melancholic one.

Kageyama opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out, and Aragaki finally looked at Izumi, seemingly having given up.

“I’m sorry for getting you involved.”

Her usual arrogance was nowhere to be found - it was strange, seeing her act so normal, speaking like any other person would. It felt so foreign; nobody else dared interrupt. Aragaki took a deep breath, her head lowering once more.

* * *

 

_“You do not seem too worried.”_

_The remark caused Kageyama to raise his head, and he stared back at her, perplexed by what she’d said._

_“Well, yeah. I’m the lucky student, remember? Chances are, this won’t go wrong, but if it does, I’ll be the one it backfires on anyway, so you should relax.”_

_That didn’t exactly ease her mind. She had accepted his plan - she thought it was quite smart, actually. Without cameras, the mastermind wouldn’t be able to tell a fake murder from a real one. Hopefully that’d give them a chance to try to find a way out; and if not, at least gain more time._

_“Is the sleeping pill really necessary, though?”_

_“I’m no actor, Aragaki, I don’t wanna give myself away. I’m a pretty calm sleeper, so chances are, nobody will notice anything until you’ve already told them.”_

_While the plan itself was good, though, his execution of it seemed kind of lackluster. Maybe it was his laidback nature, or maybe his faith in his own talent, but either way, Kageyama showed no signs of anxiety. He’d already taken the medicine, and was comfortably leaning against the wall, waiting for it to kick in._

_So reckless._

_If this didn’t work, Aragaki was hoping the mastermind wouldn’t notice a thing._

_Nobody had tried dozing off here yet; despite the room being a blind spot, none of them had the courage to try - apart from Natsume and Komatsu, who were promptly stopped by the majority of the group begging them not to -, afraid of the consequences. They could die. Aragaki couldn’t ignore that fact. Kageyama could die, in fact, the moment he fell asleep. And yet, he wasn’t worried at all._

_Because he was lucky._

_He gradually slid to the floor, eyes half-lidded already, although trying to stay awake for a little longer, wanting to talk. The top of his head looked like he’d been dipped in paint - which, he had been indeed. A poor replacement for blood, but they’d only be able to tell up close. She gripped the towel rack in her hand a little tighter. Good thing Kageyama brought a screwdriver. A makeshift weapon would make it more believable._

_Before she could place it on the ground, though, the door creaked open. Her heart skipped a beat. She turned around to see Yokoyama standing in the doorway, pale as a ghost, staring motionlessly. It took her a few seconds, but she reflexively rushed towards Aragaki, the latter having no chance to even attempt to explain herself._

_Kageyama was almost out._

* * *

 

“It’s ironic, in a way,” she spoke clearly, her voice not even trembling. “To think that a silly idea like a fake murder could end up in a real one…”

“…Did you mean to kill her?” Izumi’s calm stare bore into her own; it was almost as though they were both holding back for the sake of looking tough in front of their classmates, neither of them letting the full extent of their emotions show. Aragaki shook her head.

“As it turns out…” her eyes strayed to her hands, “Yokoyama-san is a lot stronger when she’s upset. She ran at me, I tried to hold her down and pushed her back, then she slipped and hit her head. I helped Kageyama-kun back to his room, and tried to cover the scene up myself.”

She said it with the ease of confessing to stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, but Hanamiya could tell there was more to it.

Perhaps she’d been trying to believe in Kageyama’s luck until now, no matter how desperate it would have made her seem.

Kageyama looked like he might start crying any second now.

“B-but… if you pushed her, it w-wasn’t your fault, right?” Fujinomiya timidly spoke up, her voice barely audible. “It w-was an accident, s-so you shouldn’t get… e-executed…”

That was all Kuroneko needed to hop to her feet once more, waving her scepter around.

“An accidental murder is still a murder, Fujinomiya-nyan!” she exclaimed loudly, and Kageyama paled even more. That was probably the last bit of hope he’d been holding onto. But he had lost it. This was the end of the line.

“I hate to agree with her…” Shironeko sighed, “but she’s right. A murder is murder. And we can’t make an exception for Aragaki-nyan no matter how much she begs us.”

But she wasn’t begging.

Aragaki stood still, accepting her fate with seemingly as much dignity as she could muster, the muscles in her hands relaxing bit by bit. She looked to her right, staring at Kageyama for a few seconds before she held one of her wristbands out. He took it with shaking hands, and she put the other one back on, turning away afterwards.

Hanamiya wondered if she blamed Kageyama at all. She’d gone along with the plan, so it wasn’t like it was his fault only, but he _had_ acted rather carelessly. Failure probably hadn’t even been an option in his mind.

Was that what it was like to have a talent like luck? Endless amount of self-confidence, but so fragile that a single mistake could shatter it to pieces?

Hanamiya would never want something like that.

Kuroneko spread her arms out widely, almost smacking Shironeko with her scepter in the process, and yelled in the loudest, most ear-piercing voice possible.

“Well, it seems you’re all done _finally_! Can we get to the voting yet?”

There were a few objections, a couple of students shouting over each other as they snapped out of whatever trance they’d been experiencing - Hanamiya tuned them out, starting to develop a rather awful headache. Would this be it, then? Would Aragaki be killed, just like that?

He barely listened to Kuroneko’s explanation of the voting’s mechanics, feeling a bit lightheaded. Reaching for the panel built into the podium, he fiddled around with it until he selected Aragaki, confirming his choice. Well… there was no going back now.

He waited for everyone else to be done; once everyone had voted, a roulette appeared on each of the monitors, its spinning slowing down bit-by-bit until it settled on the portrait of Aragaki. The screen was covered by confetti, sound effects following suit; it seemed they were correct. Not that that was much of a surprise, really.

Kageyama looked like he wanted to tell Aragaki more, but Hanamiya gestured for him to stay quiet. Aragaki wanted to hold it together - if she wanted to go down the same prideful way she’d carried herself before, she should get at least that much. As though reading Hanamiya’s mind, she smirked, crossing her arms.

“Well… The fallen angel, Aragaki Yuriko, is ready for any obstacle that may be waiting.”

She bowed quite dramatically, one of her hands placed on her chest.

“May we meet again in my next life.”

Hanamiya closed his eyes, holding onto the podium tightly to keep himself standing straight. Hopefully this would be over soon.

He wasn’t foolish enough to be hoping for a miracle at this point.

Kuroneko got comfortable on her throne once more, holding the scepter by her side. She raised it high up before knocking on the floor with it once, the sound echoing throughout the entire courtroom.

“Now then! Shironeko, if you will…”

Shironeko nodded, albeit in a rather annoyed manner, and lifted one of his arms.

“We’ve prepared a very special punishment for Aragaki Yuriko, the Super High School Level Cyclist…”

Kuroneko cackled.

“At last, it’s punishment time!”

Shironeko’s paw slammed down onto the button on the armrest of his throne.

* * *

 

There’s a chain around her neck, and she can’t breathe for a moment as she’s yanked backwards, the floor disappearing from under her feet. She winces as she’s dropped on her knees, getting to her feet on shaky legs, and turns her head to examine her surroundings once she manages to catch her breath.

She’s in some kind of velodrome - there’s a high fence around the oval in the middle to stop anyone from crossing there, and the curve on the side of the tracks doesn’t seem like something she’d be able to climb, almost vertical near the top.

She flinches when she hears something move behind her - she doesn’t even check what it is and gets to running, the sounds of some kind of monster enough to deter her. She has a few bruises from her fall earlier, but she pays them no mind, ignoring slight aching of her legs with ease.

It gets worse. She’s out of breath, her knees feel weak, and whatever is behind her is faster. Her gaze strays to the fence, and she changes her direction quickly, rushing towards the center to practically leap onto the fence. It’s not ridiculously tall, she can make it.

She grits her teeth as she climbs, slipping a few times and almost falling once, but she’s finally nearing the top, managing to reach it with one of her hands already. As she pulls herself up with a bit of difficulty, she just barely manages to hold back a yelp when she feels something grab onto the back of her shirt, pulling her backwards. Small, inhuman gray arms encircle her torso, and suddenly there’s nothing under her feet once more - she wants to scream, but no sound comes out, and she’s plunged into darkness as the creature’s teeth slam shut.

* * *

****

**Survivors: 14**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u got vored kid


	6. Keeping a cool head

The atmosphere was about as awkward as you’d expect it to be after witnessing another classmate’s death. Well, Hanamiya really couldn’t blame anybody for it. And it wasn’t like he was an exception to the rule either.

They were just going to walk back to their rooms when they noticed the staircase was now accessible. Some students didn’t even bother checking it out, locking themselves up for some alone time straight away, while others got to exploring, hesitantly or enthusiastically. Shironeko had fallen out of one of the trapdoors to lend a helping hand by explaining it - apparently a new floor would be unlocked after each trial. Hanamiya honest to god couldn’t care less about that, but he had a feeling it’d take him much longer to fall asleep than usual, so he reluctantly joined the exploring team.

At least their space would be a little bigger now… While the thought wasn’t quite as comforting as Hanamiya would have liked it, it was an improvement.

The new floor had quite a few rooms. The closest ones to the stairs were the library and a unisex bathroom, as well as… a rather strange room with Shironeko’s nameplate on it. Was that his bedroom? Did a stuffed animal even need a room like that? Probably not; Hanamiya shooed the thought away. They couldn’t get the door open so there was no point in theorizing about this now.

Next to the library, in the corner, was an infirmary. Unlike the store, which only had a few types of medicine, the infirmary was full of all kinds of medical equipment and drugs, and Natsume had dragged off Akiyama almost immediately to finally fix him up properly, the latter receiving a jab to the ribs from Hayama when he attempted to resist.

There was a gym and a swimming pool, with a shared changing room and shower - Hanamiya didn’t go inside, as he already felt a little sick at the sight of a stationary bike inside, recalling the day’s events. From what he could see, most of the others weren’t much better.

And… that was about it. The staircase leading to the next floor was locked, of course, so this was about as far as they could go for now. Hanamiya gave a small sigh. Maybe he should go back to his room for now and try to sleep. It would certainly be better than standing around doing nothing.

Just as he was about to descend the stairs again, though, he felt a tug on the back of his shirt, and he turned his head back to see Sakurauchi standing behind him. She drew her hand back, not saying anything for a few seconds, clearly having to search for words, then suddenly bowed her head.

“I want to apologise to you - to everyone, really, Hanamiya-san.”

As she straightened her back, she continued.

“I was having trouble making up my mind, I guess. If I really wanted to help finding the killer or not… If I wanted to get another one of my classmates killed… It scared me, in a way,” she bit her lip, averting her gaze. “I… kind of felt like it would be our fault, I guess. I didn’t want anyone else to die, so I tried my best to at least look around, but until now, I think… I was missing determination of some kind.”

“I don’t… really blame you, you know,” Hanamiya half-mumbled, feeling more and more awkward about this conversation. Why was _he_ the one getting an apology? As if this day hadn’t been long enough already… “You did your part. If you hadn’t found the pill, maybe Aragaki-san wouldn’t have confessed.”

She grabbed Hanamiya’s hands, her wide-eyed stare making him shiver a little.

“Even so, you were on a whole other level, Hanamiya-san! You kept your cool the entire time, and you timed everything so well! I hate to think that this can happen again, and I’m _hoping_ it won’t…” her voice trailed off for a moment. “B-but if it does, I hope I can follow your example…!”

He pried her hands off, taking a step back.

“…Okay. Good luck with that, I guess,” he reached for his tie to tug on it slightly, the fabric too tight around his neck. “I, uhm… I’m kind of tired, so…”

Sakurauchi nodded rapidly.

“I understand, please go get some rest! I’ll go talk to everyone else.”

And with that, she was off. Hanamiya exhaled in relief.

That was a confession of some kind, right? He wasn’t sure why, but the way she put it made it sound a little confusing for his tired brain. It wasn’t like he did much… while he certainly contributed more than some of the group, others like Natsume outperformed him by far. Sakurauchi should be thanking Natsume, not _him_.

He walked back to his room, massaging his temples.

* * *

 

When morning came, a good portion of the group wasn’t present for breakfast. Izumi tried his best to wake everyone up as before, but he was clearly feeling out of it, so it didn’t come as a surprise that his efforts didn’t bear much fruit. Nakajima and Kageyama didn’t even answer the knocks on their doors, Minamoto and Natsume were busy oversleeping, and it took Takahashi almost 10 minutes to even notice that the morning announcement had gone off already.

For the ones that did come, though, the tension seemed to mellow out as they ate. Some of them started cracking jokes, and everyone poked fun at Hanamiya when he almost fell into his plate face-first, back to being drowsy throughout the day. He didn’t appreciate it too much, but at least it meant everyone was slowly getting back to normal, if only on the surface.

Then breakfast was over.

He was going to take a nap - sleeping and videogames were really the only thing that made him feel better in these situations, and the latter wasn’t exactly an option at the moment -, but Natsume had grabbed a hold of his hand by the wrist, smiling so eerily it was almost comedic.

“Hanamiya-kun, would you like to spend some time together?”

Not exactly a question he’d been expecting to hear. He raised a brow.

“I was kind of going to rest, but…”

“Ah, I understand if you have something else you’d rather be doing, but this is of utmost importance,” Natsume’s smile widened, his grip on Hanamiya not loosening. He didn’t look ridiculously strong, but Hanamiya doubted _he_ would be able to shake him, so he reluctantly nodded.

“What’s this about…?” he inquired as Natsume proceeded to drag him off to the second floor, heading towards the infirmary. Natsume hummed nonchalantly.

“It’s something that has been on my mind for quite some time now…” he glanced back at Hanamiya. “Hanamiya-kun, you do not take very good care of yourself, do you?”

Hanamiya blinked.

“Depends on what you mean by that.”

Natsume pulled him inside, fixing his glasses for him once they came to a stop, then raised his index finger as though giving a very important lecture.

“For one, your posture is quite worrying, and your choice of meals seems to be a cause of concern as well,” he pulled his gloves off then cracked his knuckles. “Also, you should refrain from staying up so much. It will decrease your performance if you are so sleepy all the time. Please take your shirt off and turn your back to me.”

Hanamiya didn’t feel like arguing - they were both guys, there was no reason for him to feel shy about this. He first removed his tie, then pulled his sweater over his head, followed by his shirt.

“I don’t really stay up, though,” he stifled a yawn - Natsume was probably going to assume he just proved his point.

He didn’t, though. He tapped his chin as Hanamiya turned around, hunched over slightly.

“Is that so? That _is_ rather strange. Do you by any chance suffer from narcolepsy?”

He almost let out a surprised squeak as he felt Natsume’s ice cold fingers touch his back, exploring it rather carefully with his hands, as though looking for something.

“Dunno what that is. You know an awful lot about these things for a…”

The name of Natsume’s talent escaped him. What was the word again…?

“A herpetologist,” Natsume helped him out, and he let out a barely audible, high-pitched yelp as he straightened Hanamiya’s back properly with a gentle but firm grip on his shoulders. “I believe I may have mentioned this before, but while I do specialize in amphibians and reptiles, biology in general is a subject that interests me very much. Although I admit I do not know nearly as much about medical science as someone of my age professionally pursuing the field.”

He finally let go of Hanamiya, and the boy immediately returned to his previous position, arms hanging limply by his sides.

“Please bend over slowly. Try to touch your toes, if you can.”

Hanamiya sent him an exasperated glance over his shoulder, but did as Natsume asked him to. He didn’t get very far - he wasn’t exactly flexible, and he was pretty sure if he tried to bend forward even more he’d end up collapsing on the floor, but fortunately it seemed to be enough for Natsume, and he helped Hanamiya straighten up again.

“Unfortunately I do not know enough about narcolepsy to diagnose you or give you medication for it, but I highly suggest you visit a medical professional as soon as possible.”

 _If_ he gets out of here alive, that is - but Hanamiya kept quiet about that.

“Mhm, well… I’ll see if I can,” he shrugged, reaching for his shirt. Natsume turned him around before he could, signaling that he wasn’t done yet.

“Please stand with your back against the wall.”

Hanamiya took a few steps back until his back hit the wall, sending Natsume a questioning look.

“Why are you so concerned about _my_ health?”

Natsume gave his chest a firm push to get him to straighten his back once more; Hanamiya wondered if he’d subjected Takahashi to this as well. He did see them enter the bath together at one point. Come to think of it, wasn’t Komatsu with them…?

“Hm? Why would I not be? You are my classmate, are you not? It is only natural I’d be concerned,” Natsume adjusted his glasses, raising Hanamiya’s arms until his elbows and shoulders were on the same level. “The place where I grew up lacked a sense of unity, and I often find myself attracted to things I was deprived of as a child.”

Hanamiya really did have to wonder about that part - Natsume was a textbook weirdo, all of his classmates have probably deducted that much by now, so it was only natural they’d be curious about what caused him to develop in such a way. He recalled what he said about being used to seeing dead bodies, and a chill ran down his spine.

He didn’t exactly seem opposed to talking about his past, though, and nobody was around to interrupt them… Maybe Hanamiya could simply ask.

“What _was_ the place where you grew up like anyway?”

It was the most nonchalant way he could ask, and as he thought, Natsume didn’t hesitate to answer.

“That is quite the broad question,” he bent Hanamiya’s elbows, touching them to the wall, his fingers pointing forward. “If I were to sum it up shortly… criminal activity of all kind was an everyday sight. Children were treated quite harshly there… I was often deprived of food, as a matter of fact. Rather unfortunate that my darling wasn’t there to keep me company.”

Hanamiya thought he heard some faint hissing coming from inside Natsume’s sleeve, but decided to ignore it.

“Please rotate your arms until the back of your wrists touches the wall.”

Might as well if he’d done everything else so far - he didn’t really know how to react to Natsume’s answer, instead choosing to follow his instructions silently for now. Should he be worried? If killing for Natsume was normal, it wouldn’t be that unlikely for him to try to kill someone here, right?

Although… his story could still be a lie. Hanamiya wasn’t sure why he’d make up a lie like that, but Natsume was about as hard to read as they could get. And he wasn’t really even sure if he wanted to get involved with someone like him.

He managed to touch the wall with a bit of difficulty, his back arching in the process, and Natsume tilted his head.

“Hm… as I thought, your posture leaves much to be desired.”

He clapped his hands together twice, putting his gloves back on.

“I would like to do a more thorough examination… This place most likely has all the equipment I need, so I suggest we stay here for an extended period of time.”

Hanamiya wondered if he could just sneak away.

* * *

 

“I think I’ve been managing you pretty well,” Hayama leaned against the wall to catch her breath, sending Akiyama a curious look. The boy followed her to the gym for some reason - his injury was still far from healing fully, so she wasn’t exactly sure why, but she wasn’t about to question the company. It was more fun to exercise with other people around.

Akiyama raised a brow at her phrasing, clearly a little annoyed by it, but didn’t voice his discomfort, instead composing his expression once more. He’d started doing that a lot, which was quite nice - Hayama didn’t need to watch him like a hawk anymore.

“You make it sound like I’m some little kid that needs to be watched,” he breathed a sigh, crossing his legs on the bench he’d been sitting on. He seemed a little frustrated, having to sit by, but it wasn’t like they could let him move too much around yet. Especially not now that Natsume could treat him properly.

“You kind of are, to be fair.”

Akiyama winced, but Hayama wasn’t about to be soft on him. The guy had anger issues - so what? All the more reason he should try to control himself.

“Why are you so quick to bite anyway?” she glanced back at him, stretching her back. She herself wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of self-control either, but she’d never been the first to lose her temper in arguments. “The swearing, I get. The violence, not so much. Chiba-kun is pretty bad, but I think he’s still better off.”

Akiyama leaned a little more back, crossing his arms with an uncomfortable look. Did she go too far perhaps? It wasn’t like he _had_ to talk, though - she was just curious is all.

“Kids make bad decisions, and those decisions usually stick with them,” he shrugged. Hayama hummed; the phrasing made her want to know even more. Was he maybe a delinquent? If so, the piercings certainly wouldn’t help improve on that.

“Like what?” she resumed her stretching, patiently waiting for a response. She wasn’t the type to pry as much as possible, like Minamoto, but she wasn’t one to back off so soon either.

Akiyama’s fingers were drumming on his thigh.

“Like… joining a gang when you were young, for example.”

His head slowly tilted backwards until he was staring at the ceiling, expression surprisingly nonchalant.

“And before you know it, you’re 16 with a criminal record and you’ve forever labeled yourself as a problem child.”

Close enough to what Hayama had expected. She finally straightened up, staring at him from the corner of her eye.

“But you’re not anymore, are you? In a gang, I mean,” she sat down on the bench as well, exhaling in satisfaction upon getting to relax. Akiyama shook his head, turning back to her.

“Not anymore, no. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to be able to get rid of the mark it’s left,” he tapped his chin, gaze straying off to the side. “I really appreciate the help, but I’d kind of like for a faster solution…”

Hayama made a low humming sound as she thought it over.

“Maybe we should bring more people next time. If you were able to control yourself around Chiba-kun, for example, that would be a start, right?”

Besides, she kind of wanted to teach Chiba some self-control as well - even though he seemed like he had it together for the most part. Now, who else would be good…? Most of the other students didn’t seem incredibly athletic with the exception of Takahashi. Maybe Aragaki-

She froze, and quickly shook her head, putting on a cheerful expression when Akiyama sent a questioning glance in her direction, slapping his back a little too hard.

“I’ll go ask Chiba-kun later if he wants to join us for tomorrow.”

* * *

 

When Chiba took a step to the side, the girl followed. When he sat down, she sat right next to him. When he left the room, she rushed after him, the jingling of her bell signaling her presence.

It seemed that no matter what Chiba would try, Komatsu wouldn’t stop trailing after him - which, even on a better day, would’ve been a reason for distress for the shorter boy, but he wasn’t in a good mood to begin with, and he was dangerously close to losing his temper. He was reasonable enough just simply ask at first, but his request went ignored by her each time he attempted. And he’d thought he managed to shake her when she went to hang out with Hanamiya for a while…

“Chiba-tan, let’s be friends!” she kept repeating herself, determined to not leave him be until she got a favorable response. Chiba shot her a glare.

“You’re already friends with Hanamiya, right? Go talk to him.”

“But Yui-tan wants to be friends with everybody!” she exclaimed, running ahead to stop right in front of him, her arms spread to stop him from walking further. “She’s already made friends with Takahashi-tan, Natsume-tan, Hanamiya-tan, and…” her face scrunched up slightly for a moment, as though having trouble recalling the name at first, “ah, that’s right! Fujinomiya-tan. So since Chiba-tan is being so difficult, he should be next.”

Maybe it’d be better if he was upfront about it - she didn’t seem like she’d be fazed by anything he could tell her anyway.

“Look, I really don’t like you,” he straightened his back, trying to get this over with as fast as possible. “You should go talk to someone that you get along with, and not force people to hang out with you. Friendships don’t work when they’re one-sided.”

Komatsu paused, slightly leaning to the side, her bangs swaying along.

“Ehh? Chiba-tan doesn’t like Yui-tan? How come?”

He could’ve just ran off - it had worked before, why wouldn’t it work now? -, but now he felt obligated to explain himself properly. However, when he tried to, he found it rather difficult to put it into words.

“You’re a weirdo, I guess,” he decided on the answer, brows furrowed lightly. “You’re unpredictable, which makes you dangerous to be around.”

“Dangerous?” Komatsu repeated, seemingly rather confused. “Is being a weirdo such a bad thing? Yui-tan doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong…”

Chiba would have felt a little bad by now if he hadn’t recalled the way she always seemed to laugh in the face of death - quite literally, in a way. He wasn’t wrong; he was sure of that. He’d arrived at the same conclusion with Aragaki as well, and look how she ended up. That was her mistake, it wasn’t Kageyama’s.

“…You don’t seem to care when someone dies,” Chiba stared straight at her, facing her properly for a change. “In a place like this… that’s not a trait you want to have.”

“But… everyone dies someday, you know,” she took a step forward, bending forward this time, her arms crossed behind her back. “That’s normal. Why should Yui-tan be upset about it?”

Chiba’s feelings of discomfort only grew, and before she could go into more detail, he had already turned around to run off.

He should make a list of who to avoid in the future.

* * *

 

There were people who wanted to avoid _some_ members of the group - then there were the ones that seemed to want to be separate entirely.

Nakajima had never once bothered to deny the latter, no matter who approached him. Sure, there were a few bearable ones, but he had no time to be making friends now. He would need to find a way out that didn’t involve killing - he would _need_ to, he couldn’t afford to be messing around here for long.

Tsutsui was one of the annoying ones. Not because she was especially loud or obnoxious - in fact, she was neither of the 2 -, but because she was so persistent. Maybe he was just this easy to read, but no matter how rude he was to her, all she’d do was scold him for it then continue attempting to chat. By now, he’d given up almost entirely, starting to feel kind of guilty about it - but he hadn’t stopped trying his best to avoid her, hoping to be spared from any future lectures.

She wasn’t especially tall, nor was she nearly stern enough, so he wasn’t sure why it managed to get to him - it might have been her ever so slightly creepy appearance in the end. If he could just manage to get over that…

As he took a seat at a table, a book in his hand, his notepad in the other, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was staring at him, and he didn’t even need to check to know who it was. He’d be easy to find if he was in his room and the constant knocking would get annoying after a while, so he’d hid in the library in hopes of finally getting some peace and quiet, but _of course_ that wouldn’t be enough to get Tsutsui off his tail.

He closed his book rather loudly, turning his head to send the girl crouching behind a plant an exasperated look.

“How can I help you _now_?”

She tried to duck to disappear from view - she knew Nakajima wasn’t exactly fond of her, and probably didn’t want to make him mad by following him -, but even aside from the fact that she wasn’t small enough to hide in such a way, her hat continued poking out at the top. Nakajima sighed, and saw her emerging once more from the corner of his eye as soon as he went back to reading. Figures.

Well, if she wouldn’t answer him with her phone, he could always try something else.

Ripping a page from his notepad, he quickly scribbled down something in neat, easy-to-read handwriting, then folded it up into the shape of an airplane, sending it towards Tsutsui. He didn’t need to wait long for a reply - her own handwriting was cutesy, but extremely messy, and it took him a moment to be able to read her reply when the plane landed by his foot.

_Why are you following me around?_

_I’m just curious is all. You never answered my question._

He furrowed his brows, and sent her another message, then repeated the action once her second answer arrived. Maybe talking this way would be fine for now.

_What question?_

_Are you scared of ~~people~~ me?_

_Why would I be scared of you?_

_You were just giving off that kind of vibe. But you still didn’t answer me, you know! Evading the question is the same as ignoring me entirely._

_I’m not. There’s your answer. Is that all?_

Nakajima turned around in his chair when she seemed to be taking her time with the next one, and flinched as she suddenly shot up into the air, expression determined. She began rapidly typing on her phone before he could even say anything, then held the message out for him to see as the robotic voice simultaneously read it out loud.

“The reason you’re not honest with me is because you don’t like me, right? So if I can find you someone that you _do_ like, you’ll talk to them properly. I’ll make this work somehow, so you just wait here!”

She then quickly turned around, dashing towards the door, leaving Nakajima dumbfounded. He really could not catch a break here after all.

* * *

 

“It’s quite cold, isn’t it?”

Her arms wrapped around herself, Fujinomiya shivered a little. Perhaps the heating was malfunctioning? Either way, she didn’t expect the temperature to be this low without it. The outside seemed rather sunny whenever she looked out one of the windows.

Sakurauchi took off her jacket, offering it to Fujinomiya.

“You can wear this until it gets fixed, if you want.”

Fujinomiya’s eyes widened slightly, and she quickly shook her head.

“But then you’ll be the one who’s cold…”

“Just put it on, it’s fine,” Sakurauchi insisted, already trying to pull one of Fujinomiya’s arms through a sleeve. The latter reluctantly caved in, craving the warmth, and let Sakurauchi dress her up. _She_ didn’t seem that cold anyway, even without the jacket - her pink turtleneck must have been doing its job well.

She had noticed the lack of energy around Sakurauchi lately, of course - at least when it was only the 2 of them -, how could she not? It was a pretty drastic change. And while it could have been due to the incident with Yokoyama, she had doubts that it was just that. She wondered if Sakurauchi was holding back for her sake after all. Although… going this far seemed a little unlikely.

“Sakurauchi-san,” she tugged on her sleeve, causing the other girl to look back at her curiously. She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I know I said it’s a little draining to be around such high energy all the time… b-but that doesn’t mean you can’t be yourself, t-though!”

Did that sound weird? Maybe it was a little, blurting it out out of nowhere like that… Fujinomiya’s cheeks grew just a little warmer from the embarrassment. It looked like no matter how hard she tried, she was still rather awkward with these things.

Sakurauchi blinked.

“…Be myself?”

Fujinomiya nodded repeatedly, and Sakurauchi averted her gaze, humming, clearly deep in thought. Maybe she was too vague? Fujinomiya opened her mouth to try to rephrase it, but Sakurauchi quickly turned back to flash her a reassuring smile.

“I’m not really sure what you mean, but I’ll figure it out. Uhm…” she tapped her chin, head slightly tilted to the side. “Thank you, I guess.”

Well, she was a pretty sloppy actress; it was easy to see that she was just trying to be polite. She was nowhere near on the level of…

No, better stop there.

Fujinomiya adjusted her glasses, giving one last shy nod, starting to fidget a bit. Hopefully Sakurauchi would take her advice. She should ask her tomorrow, if she can.

Hopefully nothing bad will happen until then.

* * *

 

Leisurely leaning back in his seat, covered by a blanket, Hanamiya was on the verge of drifting off. Was this kind of temperature normal? They’d attempted to call for the cats to get an answer, but there was no response. Most of the group wasn’t really expecting one either, but they could dream.

As the kitchen was still somewhat warm from Takahashi’s baking session from earlier, a good portion of the students has gathered there. There was also the bath, but nobody really wanted to go near that place, not after what happened. Natsume and Komatsu were the only willing ones, but Natsume was busy lecturing Akiyama - who appeared to be in the middle of downing a bottle -, and Komatsu was hardly going by herself.

“Please be careful with your alcohol consumption, it might be dangerous if your body temperature is lowered too much,” Natsume reasoned, but Akiyama was already too far gone to listen - Hayama was holding him down from behind to stop him from punching Natsume in the face, noting with a deep sigh that when he was intoxicated Akiyama’s self-control seemed to hover around zero.

Chiba had taken a small sip, but nothing more than that, while Komatsu had apparently been already drinking plenty of it beforehand, and wasn’t letting anyone stop her as she ran around laughing, hiding behind an anxious Takahashi. Hanamiya turned to look at Nakajima, who appeared to have squished himself against the wall in the corner, wearing a look of disapproval, and actually found himself agreeing with him for a change.

What a group of idiots.

Kageyama, who seemed to have recovered slightly after yesterday, politely refused a glass when Komatsu offered him some, taking a seat next to Chiba to watch the chaos unfold silently. His hat was sitting straight on his head.

When Sakurauchi and Fujinomiya arrived, Hanamiya took notice of the former’s jacket placed on Fujinomiya. He would’ve took that as a sign of them growing a little closer normally, but Sakurauchi probably just forced her to wear it after seeing her shiver so badly. Fujinomiya was enough of a pushover that you could probably make her do anything you wanted.

He closed his eyes.

The kitchen was beginning to feel kind of cramped - only 3 more people were missing, but Hanamiya was kind of hoping they wouldn’t come. He’d had enough of people continuously bumping into him by accident; he was considering sleeping away what was left of the day in his room, huddled under every single one of his blankets.

And fortunately, his wish came true for a change.

When a pretty long time had passed and those 3 still hadn’t appeared, Hanamiya couldn’t even find it in himself to get worried for them. The less people here, the better. They were probably fine anyway; nobody would take action so soon after the last incident, especially not either of the 3.

But, of course, something just had to go wrong.

Hanamiya had just managed to doze off for a moment when he was awoken yet again by an ear-piercing screech - for a moment he thought it might’ve been one of the girls, until he saw Nakajima covering his mouth tightly, face a violent shade of red. Good to know.

This time, it was only Shironeko. He stood a few feet away from Nakajima - he’d probably startled the poor guy by landing in front of him -, and looked around the room, possibly to see who was around. His shoulders hung low in disappointment when he saw that some people were missing, but he recovered quickly as usual.

“I would’ve preferred it if all of you’d been present… but I guess you can just tell the others.”

“Where’s your little friend?” Chiba narrowed his eyes at him, and Shironeko nervously waved his paw, as though brushing his question aside.

“She’s a little tied up at the moment, never mind that,” he placed his paws on his hips. “I’m here to tell you the next motive. It’s already been put into action, actually!”

When he put it like that, there weren’t a lot of things it could be.

“Until another murder occurs…” Shironeko paused for dramatic effect, “…the temperature on the ship will be shifting drastically!”

Thought so.

“My, how troublesome…” Natsume shook his head in disbelief. He most likely wasn’t looking forward to having to warn everybody about health risks. Who knows if Izumi would be up to it…

“Also,” Shironeko continued, excitedly bouncing up and down, “whoever survives the next trial will receive a very special prize, so please do your best, okay? I’ll be rooting for you!”

The faint sound of banging coming from the ceiling caught their attention, and a good portion of the group flinched when Kuroneko fell out of a trap door, entangled in a bunch of rope.

“Just you wait, you traitor, when I get my hands on you…!” she hissed, and Shironeko sprinted off right away.

Kuroneko followed him without even sparing everyone else a glance, cursing so shamelessly she would’ve given Akiyama a run for his money.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sets up 99999999 character development routes one by one*


	7. Is being hotheaded a crime?

When Hanamiya woke up entangled in the sheets, practically soaking wet, it took him a while to remember Shironeko’s announcement from the previous day. All he could remember after that was Izumi scolding everyone who’d taken even a sip of the alcohol quite sternly, the rest of the evening a blur. He probably dozed off at that point.

The air was hot and dry, and he found it a little hard to breathe. He almost tripped when he finally managed to get out of bed, and let out a brief sigh as he reached for his glasses. He felt as though he was inside the bath yet again.

After a long, cold shower, he barely bothered to dry himself as he got dressed, leaving drops of water behind him as he walked towards the cafeteria. Then he stopped in his tracks, leaning against the wall for a moment. He wasn’t incredibly hungry, especially not in this heat, and he tilted his head slightly to try to think of a place where he could cool down. Food could wait.

The only place he could think of was the pool… unless he could somehow jam himself into the refrigerator, which probably wouldn’t be a very good idea. So he got to walking, barely even paying attention to who passed him by as he headed towards the second floor. Once he reached the changing room, he didn’t even bother to change his clothes and instead left it behind to walk up to the pool. He took his glasses off, placing them to the ground without much care before simply diving in fully clothed, letting out a sigh of relief at the cool sensation.

The sides of the pool were shallow enough for his feet to reach the bottom without much trouble, and from what he could see, only a circular area in the middle was deeper than that. He raised his head once his name was called, but without his glasses, blurry colors was about all he could see, and he only stopped turning his head when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Good morning, Hanamiya-kun.”

That was Natsume’s voice - once he turned around, he could make out a little more than before, although he still had to squint.

“Morning… Where’s your pet?”

From what he could see, Natsume’s snake didn’t seem to be around. _Hopefully_ it wasn’t in the water; he wasn’t exactly a scaredy cat, but he wasn’t sure how well he could take something suddenly wrapping itself around his leg.

“Ah, she’s resting under my coat in the changing room. She is not exactly fond of water,” Natsume chuckled, now backing off slightly to leave Hanamiya’s personal space. “Speaking of which… I find it a little strange that nobody else has joined me. A few people have come by, but they all left after a while for some reason.”

Yeah, that didn’t sound suspicious at all. Either something happened that Hanamiya was unaware of, or it was something that he couldn’t see. Which… could be a lot of things, really.

“Well, no matter, I suppose I can just ask them later. In the meantime…” Natsume combed his fingers through his hair, “I hope you have not forgotten about the exercises I recommended. Swimming is an excellent way to take care of your back problems, and now is the perfect time to try it, wouldn’t you say so?”

Or maybe it was time to run. Hanamiya turned his back on Natsume to get out, feeling much too sluggish for any kind of exercise, when he felt Natsume grab his arm, smiling politely as always more than likely.

“You should take your clothes off; it will be hard to swim properly while you are still wearing them.”

He probably wasn’t wrong about that, but something about the guy was creepy enough to make sirens go off in his head. Not… in the perverted way, though; Natsume always seemed like he had no idea about anything even remotely sexual, which probably would’ve been a good thing if he hadn’t been so touchy all the time. Perhaps Hanamiya should ask someone to educate him sometime. _He_ wasn’t gonna do it, he had his hands full just trying to relax already.

“You should’ve just become a healthcare professional if you were gonna be so insistent about these things…” he muttered under his breath; Natsume’s hold loosened slightly, and Hanamiya placed his hands onto the edge of the pool, attempting to pull himself up. He didn’t wanna drown by accident while trying to blindly search for the ladder, so this would have to do.

“Oh? Am I not allowed to have hobbies on the side, perhaps?”

Natsume sounded rather amused, as if he’d heard that sentence several times before. Hanamiya glanced back at him - or at least in his general direction, then thought it over as he turned his head back.

“Dunno. It pretty much feels like it’s your actual talent, though.”

“But you are not exactly vocal about your own, are you?” Natsume continued the conversation as Hanamiya grit his teeth, having gotten about halfway out, the side of the pool digging into his stomach. Good thing he was wearing clothes. When he finally managed to get out, he lay on his back for a while, breathing a little heavily.

“…Guess I’m not…” he replied once he was done, sitting up to search for his glasses. Although for him, it was more like he hadn’t gotten an opportunity to get worked up yet. He could get passionate if it was the type of thing he was interested in… probably…!

“Speaking of which… I am quite curious. What _do_ you like about your talent?”

As Hanamiya put on his glasses, he didn’t even hesitate to answer.

“I watch a lot of TV shows. And play games, if I find good ones.”

There really was no dramatic backstory behind his hobby. He liked nerdy stuff, and doing impressions was fun when he was by himself in his room - that was pretty much how it all started. Seeing as how his grades were rather lackluster, and he really couldn’t get into anything else, his parents pushed him to try to go for it, hoping he’d at least find some motivation to do _this_ seriously.

And… he certainly did that.

He turned back to Natsume to look at him properly, now finally able to see, and his voice got stuck in his throat once he noticed something quite… peculiar.

He got to his feet, still dripping wet, and tilted his head slightly.

“By the way, you might wanna put some clothes on. I doubt many of the girls in particular would want to see that.”

* * *

 

“Are… you two sure that this is a good idea?”

Hayama raised her head to look at a concerned Akiyama staring straight at her, repeatedly tapping the floor with Natsume’s walking stick. _He_ seemed to be relatively fine, or at least much better than Chiba, who happened to be leaning against the wall, breathing rather heavily. Hayama had to admit she wasn’t feeling much better, but if she couldn’t make herself seem tough, how would Chiba listen to her?

And with that, she straightened her back, trying to hide the slight trembling of her legs as much as possible. Maybe exercise in hot weather like this wasn’t the best idea, but they had plenty of water, so it wasn’t like they could get dangerously dehydrated, right?

“I don’t think you’re one to talk about bad ideas,” Chiba interjected, finally able to talk normally, pushing himself away from the wall. “But what do I know; I wasn’t the one getting torn to pieces by Izumi yesterday.”

“Yeah, well, I _extremely highly_ doubt you’re one to talk either considering you drank some too,” Akiyama immediately retorted, seemingly slightly offended that Chiba of all people was calling him out. “I was freezing, alright? Give me a break.”

“You’re both underage and you both need to shut up right now,” Hayama crossed her arms, leaving just enough time for Chiba to add another comment.

“16 is legal in some countries, you know.”

Before Hayama could snap at him, though, he continued.

“But yeah, I was just joking. It’s really no big deal if you ask me,” he shrugged, shooting Akiyama a flat, sideways glance. “Although you could’ve watched the quantity a little better. I’m not surprised about Komatsu, but I figured at least you’d have the common sense to be careful in these circumstances.”

Glancing between Chiba and Hayama repeatedly, Akiyama let out a sigh, leaning a little more back in his seat, giving up on arguing for now. He probably wasn’t too keen on confessing everything to Chiba just yet. The little guy _was_ awfully quick to jump to conclusions.

Speaking of which…

“You must’ve been a pretty sheltered child, huh, Chiba-kun?”

Both of the boys turned to Hayama at that, who was trying to make herself look as innocent as possible after a comment like that. It was too late to take it back now. Maybe she should just… go with the flow for now.

“Well, either that, or your family really cares about appearances…” her voice trailed off as Chiba’s expression shifted into a clearly scandalized one.

“What are _you_ going on about…?” obviously confused by what she was getting at, he shook his head quickly, as though trying to dispel something from his mind. “I wasn’t… some spoiled kid if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Not really, no,” Hayama tapped her chin slowly, examining him from head-to-toe. “You just give off a kind of ‘rich kid vibe’, I guess. You’re pretty judgemental.”

“And you dress like a girl,” Akiyama added helpfully, which almost got a small laugh out of Hayama. Chiba could easily pass for a tomboyish girl just based on his appearance alone, not even counting his clothes.

“I- my clothes look good, fuck you guys…” Chiba muttered, resembling a very displeased child with the way he was puffing his cheeks out. It was really hard to take any insult he threw with a baby face like that…

He finally sat down, although as close to the edge of the bench as possible, seemingly sulking.

“And anyway, isn’t it normal to be wary of that stuff? You’re making me sound like a bad guy.”

To be fair, he hadn’t really badmouthed anyone to their faces - but it still felt kind of wrong.

“Not really _bad_ , just…”

_A little ignorant, maybe._

But she wasn’t sure if she should say that out loud. She didn’t want to piss him off for real; he was pretty nice to talk to when he wasn’t throwing one of his hissy fits, which weren’t even that bad most of the time, and were rather easy to ignore. The guy was probably just a little immature for his age - that wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

She did kind of feel like it was her responsibility to help him out, though. It’s been working with Akiyama; why wouldn’t it work with Chiba as well? Maybe she should have a one-on-one talk with him later…

Acknowledging that Chiba was done moving around for now, she sat down as well, wondering if she should catch him by himself tomorrow.

* * *

 

When Tsutsui said she’d try to find someone he got along with, this really wasn’t what Nakajima had expected.

As Minamoto comfortably settled in with her legs crossed, he found himself wishing to be able to turn back time, or at least crawl back to his bed to escape from whatever this was going to be. The weather was already unbearable, as the low hum of the air conditioning that seemed to be present in the library until now was missing completely, and the fact that he wasn’t willing to walk around in less than 2 layers most likely wasn’t helping.

So all in all, he was having a pretty terrible day.

“Now, now, Nakajima-chan, there’s no need for a look like that,” Tsutsui chided him gently, her hands occupied with her phone, as usual. “Minamoto-chan can be very nice when she wants to be.”

“Yeah, she was just _so_ nice during the trial, wasn’t she?” Nakajima rolled his eyes. Maybe Tsutsui just grabbed the first person she found to drag them to him - at least that’d have been the first thing he’d have thought of normally, but she seemed to take her time in picking someone out, so… he really didn’t know what to think.

“I don’t like him either,” Minamoto stated simply. Nakajima couldn’t even find it in himself to get mad - the feeling was clearly mutual.

“I’m sure you two can learn to get along if you just try,” Tsutsui’s typing got faster and faster, as though she was trying to get them to talk normally as soon as possible. “You both like books, right? And you’re both socially awkward. It’ll help you both if you have each other to talk to.”

She sounded so certain of herself - or at least her phrasing, as… ‘her’ tone really didn’t give them much to work with -; Nakajima had to wonder if she was trying to be hopeful or if she really was this optimistic. Maybe she _had_ given it careful consideration - maybe she was overthinking everything and that’s why she picked Minamoto.

But more importantly…

“People don’t just become friends because they’re similar,” Nakajima started, shooting Minamoto down right away before she could even open her mouth. “And I’m not saying that we _are,_ but you seem to be using that logic.”

“It might be easier to find someone for you if we go by the ‘opposites attract’ rule,” hiding a sly grin with her hand, Minamoto ignored Tsutsui’s rapid typing. “All we have to do is find someone who’s not an unbearable jackass who thrives on rude and uncalled for remarks.”

“Wow, the pot is calling the kettle black. At least I have the decency to keep my highly unnecessary commentary to myself when we’re trying to solve a murder case, Little Miss Perfect,” Nakajima shot her a glare. “And unlike _someone_ , I could contribute without derailing the discussion every 5 seconds.”

“Yeah, well at least I’m not-“

Tsutsui’s phone clattered to the ground as she placed her hand on each of theirs to get them to be quiet. Minamoto raised a brow - she finally got the message, apparently. Nakajima, on the other hand, yanked his hand back, clutching it to his chest as though he’d been burnt by fire. Hopefully he could just pass it off as… being offended or something. It was only for a moment, so his reaction wasn’t too bad.

“A-anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I refuse to spend my time doing something so stupid and pointless. So, if you'll excuse me…”

He got to his feet, and was about to simply walk out to hopefully get some alone time, when he felt a hand around his wrist, and he didn’t even have time to freak out as he was yanked back into his seat.

He’d have expected it to be Tsutsui - although it was a little hard to think straight when he was busy trying to stop himself from growing too lightheaded -, but to his surprise, Minamoto had taken it upon herself to keep him there a little longer. She drew her hand back quite fast, crossing her arms as she tilted her head.

“I don’t like you, _but_ ,” she pursed her lips, “I do like Tsutsui-san. You’re not going anywhere until she tells you to leave.”

She sure did a 180 fast.

Nakajima closed his eyes to silently count to 10, and wondered if maybe he should’ve just pleaded with Tsutsui to leave him be instead.

* * *

 

Reaching out with a hand, the tips of Sakurauchi’s fingers touched the mirror just barely as she stared. She drew her hand back to remove her hat, then take out her contacts, dull gray eyes staring back at her instead of golden ones.

She flopped over onto the bed with a sigh, her hat held tightly in one of her hands. She wasn’t trying to control herself, she _knew_ she wasn’t… so why was Fujinomiya acting like that? Was it something she’d said, maybe? Did she make it sound like she was feeling uncomfortable?

She sat up once more; let’s look at this from another angle. She wasn’t straining herself when she was acting calm, so… was she perhaps overexerting herself when she was being energetic?

It was true that she liked cats, but she didn’t think they were anything special. It was true that she liked talking to people, but she also didn’t mind spending time by herself. It was true that she was optimistic, but… to that extent?

This felt strange. She’d never questioned those things before. Perhaps she should ask someone else… or perhaps not. She wasn’t sure who would be a good person for this. Maybe Hanamiya…? No, he seemed pretty tired the last time they talked. He most likely had better things to do. Aside from him, though, the only one she’d talked to really was Fujinomiya. This was quite the dilemma.

She stood up, then went to put her contacts back in, but her hands stopped mid-movement. If she was going to figure this out… walking out without them might be a good start. They were pretty, but they were just contacts in the end. Not having them on was no big deal; it wasn’t like her eyes were bad, after all.

She nodded to herself. Good plan.

\---------------------------------------------

Standing in front of the door, Takahashi nervously got ready to try to kick it in, then lowered his leg again. This would count as destroying property probably, huh. So then he’d have to find another way inside.

“Takahashi-tan, Takahashi-tan!”

He flinched as his name was called, recognising the voice all too well - but surely, she meant no harm, so he would just have to put up with it for now. Forcing a smile, he turned his head to stare at the girl who’d came to a halt beside him, peering up at him curiously.

“Good afternoon, Komatsu-san, how can I help you?”

“What are you doing?” Komatsu inquired, rapidly glancing between him and the door. Takahashi didn’t even have to reply, though, before she perked up in realization. “Ohh, Takahashi-tan wants to open that, right?”

“…Yes, that’s right,” he nodded, reaching up to fiddle with his headphones. He got shot down pretty bad during the trial… so he would have to try to be helpful in some other way. As awful as Nakajima could act, it wasn’t like he was wrong. He… really didn’t contribute anything there.

“How come?” Komatsu tilted her head, quite eager to know.

“I think… we might find something useful in there, I guess,” Takahashi’s gaze slowly shifted towards the door again. “But it’s locked, so I guess it might be hopeless if we’re not allowed to break it…”

“Ohh, Yui-tan could pick the lock!” she clasped her hands together, bouncing on her feet from excitement. Takahashi shook his head.

“I think it needs some kind of key card. You know how these open the doors to our rooms?”

He held up his e-Handbook, and Komatsu hummed thoughtfully.

“Where does Takahashi-tan think the key card is, then?”

Takahashi paused, but he didn’t have to answer, as Shironeko dropped from the ceiling soon after.

“It’s with me, of course. This is my room, so I must keep it safe at all costs!” he puffed his chest out slightly, standing between them and the door. Well, it was quite obvious that the room belonged to him in some way - the nameplate gave it away quite well.

“Ahh, it’s the talking kitty again!”

Before he could protest, Komatsu swept him up in her arms, cradling him as a distressed Takahashi circled around her to try to get her to put the cat back down. This… wasn’t exactly violence, but it was still rather nerve-wracking to watch.

“K-Komatsu-san, I think you should be a little more careful…”

Shironeko squirmed in her grasp, trying to leap down without much success.

“Put me down, geez, do you think I’m some housecat or something!?”

“Soooo cute!” Komatsu spun around, Shironeko letting out panicked meows.

“Takahashi-nyan, please get her to stop!”

Honestly, he wouldn’t have felt bad just leaving Komatsu to that in any other scenario, but… if Shironeko had the key card…

He took a deep breath to steel himself, then crossed his arms, putting on the most strict expression he could muster - which, to be fair, didn’t exactly make him feel intimidating, but hey, trying can’t hurt.

“If you give us the key card, I might ask her to stop,” he almost added a ‘please’, but that most likely would’ve lessened the effect quite a bit. If this wouldn’t work, he didn’t really know what else he could try.

And to his relief, Shironeko complied.

“Okay, okay, just put me down, I’ll give it to you…!”

Takahashi froze as Shironeko’s stomach slid open, and he reached inside to pull out a card and hold it out for the boy to take - with a bit of difficulty, considering he was being swung around. Once he got over his initial shock, Takahashi took the card from him with a slightly shaking hand, clutching it to his chest with one hand as he tapped Komatsu’s shoulder with the other.

“Komatsu-san, I think you should put him down now…”

“Ehh, but why?” she looked back at him, pouting, but going still for now. Takahashi flashed her a sheepish smile.

“Aren’t you curious about what’s inside this room?” he gestured towards the door, and Komatsu’s mouth made an ‘o’ shape before she simply dropped Shironeko.

“Yes, Yui-tan is! Can she see, can see?”

Takahashi breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, that was one problem out of the way.

“Sure you can, just follow me.”

Shironeko escaped in a rather panicked manner as Takahashi unlocked the door and slowly poked his head inside. At first glance, the room seemed like any of their bedrooms - the layout was the exact same, that much he could tell. But also… there was a rather large treasure chest in the middle, the lid wide open. Takahashi approached it carefully, taking a peek inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was a rather thick folder with Aragaki’s name on it. As he searched the chest, he ended up finding an identical folder for each of his classmates as well as himself, and placed them on the ground. Komatsu was busy jumping up and down on the bed, but he didn’t bother with her much, focusing on his findings.

The last thing he found in the treasure chest was a document of some kind. The kanji was rather difficult to read, though, so he decided to save it for later to show it to the group. If nobody else, at least Minamoto would be able to read it, right?

He reached for his folder next, wanting to know what it could be about. As he opened it, the first thing that caught his eye was that several pages were missing. The folder itself seemed to be a collection of various school papers - that wasn’t the strange bit. What did seem out of place… was a high school profile he did not recognise. It had his name on it, that much he could tell - but it didn’t belong to Hope’s Peak Academy. In fact, from what he could remember, it was the high school he would’ve gone to had he not gotten accepted beforehand. So… what was this about?

He turned to Komatsu, who raised her head when he called out her name.

“Could you help me take these to the others?”

* * *

 

“You haven’t looked in these, have you?”

“N-no, of course I haven’t…”

Ignoring the bickering of Nakajima and Takahashi, Hanamiya went through the folder he’d been handed page-by-page. It was about as normal and ordinary as school files could get - the most trouble he’d ever caused was falling asleep in class and being late occasionally.

Then, just like Takahashi mentioned doing so, he found an unfamiliar high school profile. He didn’t know much about the school it seemed to belong to, but he didn’t think much of that. The important part was the lack of Hope’s Peak’s mentions anywhere. Perhaps it was part of the missing pages, and this was simply a mistake on the part of… whoever put these together. He could easily believe that.

His attention shifted back to Takahashi when he handed one more page over to Minamoto.

“I also found this along with everything else… But the kanji is too difficult to read for me.”

Minamoto hummed as she scanned the page, her brows furrowing slightly.

“This is pretty complicated, I’m not surprised you couldn’t read it,” she half-mumbled as she resumed reading, clearly having trouble with the text. “I can read it just fine, but… understanding it is a little harder. Wait, let me read it out loud for you…”

Hanamiya slowly tuned her out as she went on; he could barely understand anything of what she was saying anyway. Just based on the information he _could_ make something of, it was the description of some kind of program for people dealing with trauma…? He wasn’t quite sure; he’d never been good with anything science related.

“So… how is this related to anything?” Chiba raised a brow, and Minamoto shrugged.

“Maybe we should ask one of the stuffed animals about it…” Nakajima muttered. Minamoto, of course, immediately shook her head.

“As if they’d tell us anything.”

“How did Takahashi-kun get the door open anyway?” Izumi mused, holding onto his own folder. “I’ve been trying to find a way to open it somehow, but I didn’t really know what to do that wouldn’t break it.”

“Oh, Takahashi-tan just asked the talking kitty!” Komatsu raised her hand helpfully, beaming.

So he either bribed him or threatened him. Hanamiya stopped paying attention at that point once more, scooping up Kageyama’s folder. The guy himself was nowhere to be found, so might as well deliver this to him in the meantime. The others didn’t look like they were going to move anytime soon.

After he placed the folder down onto the floor in front of Kageyama’s door, he knocked twice, then headed towards his own room, wanting some rest. The heatwave was still present, so it might be a little harder than usual to fall asleep, but it was better than not being able to sleep at all.

As turned around to close the door, his eyes met a worried Fujinomiya’s own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so the survivor list has been updated bc it didnt look quite as nice before  
> aaand ill be posting things on my tumblr from now on that are related to this fic  
> that said, heres the map of the first floor: http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/post/161894180171  
> and the map of the second floor: http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/post/161894606516  
> ill,, probably post art and stuff i guess, so if you wanna see that heres the tag for it: http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/tagged/dr%3Ad


	8. Confrontation

When morning arrived, it was freezing again. Hanamiya climbed out of bed, the blanket wrapped around him like some sort of cape, and sneezed right away, shivering a little. He might end up catching a cold like this.

The next order of business should be… breakfast, probably. He wasn’t going to skip again.

He headed towards the cafeteria shortly. Izumi was waiting outside, and had most likely been about to wake him up, but surprise, surprise, he actually managed to get out of bed relatively early. After exchanging brief greetings with everyone he met along the way, he simply grabbed a cookie jar off one of the shelves, his actions going unnoticed by everyone else around until he walked towards the exit. He was already gone before anyone else could ask where he was taking that, and he breathed a sigh of relief, turning his head.

Let’s see, the door he needs is… to the right.

Balancing the cookie jar in one hand, he knocked on Kageyama’s door, taking out a single piece to munch on it leisurely. When the door was opened, he quickly swallowed the bite, waving the other half of the cookie in his hand.

“I brought you some food before you starve.”

The first thing he noticed was the proper placement of his hat. The second thing was one of Aragaki’s wristbands around his right hand. As he held out the jar for Kageyama to take, the boy let out a dry laugh.

“Damn, to think I’d get you of all people worried… I really messed up, didn’t I?”

Hanamiya wondered if he should take it as an insult or a compliment.

Finishing the rest of his cookie, he proceeded to thrust the jar at Kageyama’s chest.

“My hands are tired, just take it.”

And to his relief, he did.

“What did you mean by that, anyway…?” Hanamiya mumbled, lazily attempting to fix his glasses before they could slip off. Kageyama tilted his head slightly, his usual easygoing smile just a little more awkward.

“You don’t seem like the type to be concerned, I guess.”

He took a few steps back, presumably to find a place where he could put his newly acquired item down, and Hanamiya followed. He didn’t have anything better to do anyway. Letting the door close behind him, he wordlessly took a seat on the bed - he deserved at least this much for bringing Kageyama breakfast, right?

Kageyama fortunately didn’t seem to mind, and sat down next to him, leisurely crossing his legs.

“So, how can I help you?”

Hanamiya took a deep breath.

“For starters, I do think you played a pretty big part in what happened with Aragaki-san and Yokoyama-san. But regardless of what I think…” he flopped over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, “Aragaki-san saved you in a way. You could’ve died there. So… I think you owe it to her to not spend the second chance she gave you cooped up in your room.”

That was probably the most he’d said to anyone in one go. He didn’t regret it, though. He meant every word. Even if it came off as harsh, someone had to tell Kageyama to snap out of it sooner or later.

“…So you’re telling me that I’m just running away.”

“Pretty much.”

Kageyama didn’t seem like he was going to deny it. He was obviously feeling guilty over the whole incident - guilty enough to isolate himself from everyone else -, which was… good. As ridiculous as Hanamiya found the whole thing, he wasn’t going to hold any grudges, not like this.

Kageyama wasn’t a bad guy, regardless of Hanamiya’s feelings on the matter.

“Say, Hanamiya… do you hate me?”

“…Hate is a strong word,” Hanamiya turned his head to the side, the frame of his glasses digging into the side of his face.

“But you don’t like me,” Kageyama insisted on a straight answer, and Hanamiya reluctantly obliged.

“I don’t, no. Because you’re a lucky student.”

Kageyama tilted his head back, thinking it over, and Hanamiya closed his eyes. He himself wasn’t quite sure why he’d gone to talk with Kageyama. Maybe because nobody else looked like they were going to. Maybe… too many of them thought he needed alone time. Hanamiya knew that wasn’t going to help, though.

Maybe he just wanted to make sure the boy would respect Aragaki’s unsaid wishes.

“I’ve taken gambles before. Too many to count, actually,” Kageyama let out a heavy sigh, his hands in loose fists by his sides. “But… nobody else has ever gotten hurt in the process. This… was the first time.”

He paused for a few seconds.

“I want to make up for it, at least a little. Even if it’s just wishful thinking… I want to believe that Aragaki would be happy if I could.”

Hanamiya felt a tug on his sleeve, and he opened his eyes once more.

“Thanks for the food, Hanamiya.”

A single tear rolled down Kageyama’s cheek.

* * *

 

As she passed through the hallway, Minamoto had never been more glad for her thick sweaters. Her hands and face were still freezing, not to mention her short skirt not exactly ideal for this weather, but it was better than nothing.

She was still a little upset about yesterday. She had to admit, she _was_ a little stubborn about the thing with Nakajima, but it wasn’t like he didn’t feel the same way! He wasn’t mad at Tsutsui for dragging her over there, she was just disappointed that she ended up being right in the end. She wanted to find someone to get along with, yes, but that didn’t include forcing the two of them to compromise so much. She was already trying her best, anyway; it was way too much to ask of her.

She spotted Takahashi near that white cat’s room with Komatsu hanging off his back, and immediately perked up. He was pretty easy to talk to; she should give it a shot!

“Afternoon, guys, what’re you up to?”

She leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, trying to make herself sound as cool as possible. She’d been trying out a new style by covering one of her eyes with her hair, and… truth be told, it was pretty annoying, but hey, beauty is suffering. Or something…

Takahashi raised his head, but Komatsu was faster.

“Yui-tan and Takahashi-tan are searching for more treasure!”

She was clutching some kind of crayon in one hand, a paper with scribbles all over it in the other.

“We’re trying to see if there’s anything else that’s useful in here, I guess,” Takahashi took it upon himself to explain it properly, and Minamoto nodded along.

“Well, since I have nothing better to do,” she flung one of her braids over her shoulder, taking a step inside, “I’ll help out, I guess.”

Now then, next up would be… small talk. She took an entire afternoon to organize what she knew about everybody and list what kind of topics could work, so all she had to do was follow the tips she’d given herself. Komatsu was pretty much an open book when it came to her interests - she liked to draw and play with toys, and enjoyed running around and wreaking havoc like a child -, but honestly, she sounded like she was either high or drunk pretty much all the time.

Takahashi, on the other hand, was the perfect target: outgoing and kind with a vast variety of hobbies, and easy to push around.

Okay, the last part may have been a little too mean, but Minamoto needed someone who’d be patient with her attempts for this to work. She’d already had multiple people snap at her during the trial for messing around, and while she tried her best to brush it off, it kept bugging her in the back of her mind.

Takahashi wouldn’t do that, right?

Komatsu hopped off Takahashi’s back, holding out the picture for Minamoto to see.

“Yui-tan wants to know what Minamoto-tan thinks of her drawing,” she announced, waving the paper around a little.

Despite the fact that it was drawn with a crayon, it actually looked quite nice. From what Minamoto could tell, it was some kind of school building - it was a lot more simple than the eccentric and unique ones she’d seen Komatsu occasionally doodle, but even then, she could tell just how much detail the girl had put into it.

Minamoto tilted her head.

“Ehh, that’s about a million times better than what I can do. I’m almost jealous.”

Komatsu was practically glowing after the compliment, proudly puffing her chest out, and ran outside past Minamoto, presumably to show it off to someone else.

That left only her and Takahashi - she took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn’t screw up this time, and began searching the room herself. As she kneeled down to look under the bed, she heard Takahashi clear his throat, and she froze.

“By the way, uhm, Minamoto-san… would you like me to fix your hair again?”

She slowly turned her head in his direction, and he immediately began rambling in a panicked manner, thinking that he might have offended her by accident.

“N-not that it looks bad or anything, I was just wondering is all, since you seemed to like it last time-“

“I’d like that, yeah.”

They both went silent for a few seconds, after which Minamoto stood up, nudging his side with her elbow.

“Let’s hang out some more sometime.”

It seemed like her plan was going to work after all.

* * *

 

“What do you think?”

Nakajima was ready to roll his eyes when Tsutsui tilted her head - _of course_ she wasn’t paying attention. He figured that if she was going to be so stubborn about hanging around him he could at least have someone to share with what’s been on his mind, but that wasn’t going to work if she wasn’t going to cooperate.

“About what?”

“About the files Takahashi found,” he let out a sigh, tapping his pen on the empty sheet of paper in front of him multiple times. “And that last bit… did you get any of what Minamoto was saying?”

“Not at all,” she stated without hesitation or shame, and Nakajima couldn’t even be mad at her, considering he wasn’t much better off himself. “We don’t know if we can trust any information they give us, though. They could just be messing around.”

Figures that she’d say something like that.

“He did get that door open pretty easily…” Nakajima frowned, remembering Takahashi’s retelling of the event. Whether they could trust the information they’ve obtained or not, it was pretty much the only thing they had right now. They couldn’t just ignore it.

Tsutsui suddenly put on a much more serious expression, taking her time to type on her phone before showing Nakajima the text as it was read out.

“Maybe this is all a crazy experiment by mad scientists and the program Minamoto-chan was talking about is going to be used on us. What if we’re in some kind of videogame?”

Nakajima stared blankly for several seconds as his brain slowly registered what he just read, then he turned back around with a hand tightly clamped over his mouth, shoulders shaking a little. It took him a few seconds until he dared to talk without giving himself away, but apparently Tsutsui caught on anyway.

“That is about the dumbest thing I’ve heard since we arrived here.”

Despite his annoyed, albeit somewhat forced tone, the girl seemed rather excited as she clasped her hands together, then resumed typing.

“Nakajima-chan, you laughed!”

“I did not.”

“You did! Not even Minamoto-chan could get that far before!”

At that, he turned around to face her once more.

“Of course she couldn’t!” he immediately replied, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m not gonna be friends with someone who only knows how to bully people, fucking hell…”

“See? You’re similar,” Tsutsui beamed, and he almost choked on air. “You gave Takahashi-chan a pretty hard time during the trial. I’m sure it was for the greater good, but it was pretty mean.”

He couldn’t even find the words to answer with at first - how could he, to something like that? Combing his fingers through his hair, he let out an exasperated sigh before dropping his hand once more. That wasn’t… bullying, was it? He was pretty irritated in the moment, but all he was doing was speaking his mind. Maybe he should apologise… or maybe not, Takahashi could take it.

“Why… are you still following me then…?” he raised a brow, finally deciding on an appropriate reaction.

“If you find someone you get along with, you’ll probably be a lot less mad, right?” she began, restlessly typing away. “Which will make it less likely that you’ll do something stupid. We have to prevent the previous incident from repeating itself, you know.”

“If it was just that, you’d be focusing on Kageyama too,” Nakajima argued, frown deepening. As far as he could tell, Hanamiya was the only one who bothered to talk to the guy at all, apart from a few people occasionally checking up on him to see if he was still alive. Tsutsui crossed her arms smugly.

“I’ll admit I’m also curious about you and Minamoto-chan in particular. So…” she leaned a little back in her seat, “I’m going to uncover your mysteries. I’m not smart, so all I can do is befriend you if I want to know.”

She admitted it so easily; Nakajima almost wondered if she was lying. His impression of her had been changing pretty much constantly until now - he couldn’t decide if she was creepy with mysterious ulterior motives, or just that compassionate. But… maybe she was neither. Maybe she was just this curious.

“Your confidence is quite endearing, but I’m afraid it won’t be enough by itself.”

He spun his pen around before placing it into his pocket, standing up from his chair.

“I’m going back to my room,” he announced before she could say anything, sending her a meaningful look. “Come back to me if you have new information.”

* * *

 

As Sakurauchi walked in the direction of the cafeteria, having spotted Fujinomiya there earlier, she suddenly came to a halt. She should really try to talk to someone else now, shouldn’t she? If she was just going to keep hanging around the same 2 people it might become annoying to them. And… maybe she could be a little more certain about her true self if she talked to more people.

But who else could she try? Nakajima and Minamoto were both pretty mean, Komatsu and Natsume were kind of unsettling to be around, Kageyama most likely wanted to be by himself for a while, and Chiba and Hayama had walked off looking rather serious in the direction of the gym. Maybe Takahashi…? He was pretty easy to get along with, and he didn’t mind neither high or low energy… Or maybe-

Before she could spend more time thinking about it, she ran right into a somewhat distraught Akiyama, who almost knocked her to the ground in the process, having been walking quite fast.

“Watch where you’re going, why don’t you!?” he snapped, before quickly realising what he’d said, paling ever so slightly. “A-ah, I’m sorry, I was spacing out, it was entirely my bad. You’re not hurt, are you? I will pay more attention next time, so-“

Sakurauchi shook her head to cut him off, a little startled after being apologised to so vehemently. Poor guy really didn’t have a good hold on his temper, huh? Although he did seem to be doing a lot better when he was around Hayama.

“Don’t worry about it, Akiyama-san, I’m fine,” she smiled encouragingly. He wasn’t scary at all when he was panicking; it was almost starting to become kind of cute, the way he would nervously try to explain himself while shifting around.

Oh yeah, maybe she could try to talk to him? He seemed a little busy, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Where were you in such a hurry anyway?” she inquired curiously, unable to help but lean a little closer. “Are you sure you should be walking around like that with your condition?”

He waved his hand in a dismissive manner - come to think of it, Natsume’s walking stick wasn’t with him this time. Maybe he’d given it back. He did get proper treatment at the infirmary as far as Sakurauchi could remember.

“It hurts a little, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Besides, I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.”

That much even she could tell, just based on his attitude alone up until now.

“You didn’t answer my question…” she pouted a little, leaning closer yet again. Akiyama took a step back, his personal space slightly invaded.

“Well… You know about Takahashi-kun’s story from earlier, right?” he started, Sakurauchi staring back at him with wide, innocent eyes. “If the stuffed animals _can_ be threatened even in our current situation, then I have ideas of my own that I’d want to try.”

“You won’t put yourself in danger, though, right? I… doubt Hayama-san would like that…”

He blinked in confusion for a moment, and Sakurauchi wondered if she said anything strange. It was normal to be worried in times like these, right? Especially when someone was being so vague… she didn’t want to seem meddlesome by getting so involved in other people’s business, though, so careful asking was all she dared to do.

“Hayama-san…? What does she have to do with this?” he raised a brow, and Sakurauchi tilted her head.

“She’s just the first person that popped into my head, I guess. You’re pretty much always together.”

He hummed thoughtfully - whether he was going to confirm or argue with the statement, Sakurauchi couldn’t tell, until he ended up simply shrugging his shoulders.

“I suppose that’s fair. I can’t say I’m complaining though.”

“Say…” Sakurauchi lifted her hands to fidget for a moment, sounding a little more uncertain than before. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird to always be hanging out with the same person?”

“I don’t really pay attention to those things,” he replied with another shrug, this time coupled with a crooked smile. “Do you perhaps find it strange? I really don’t mind who I spend my afternoon with as long as it ends up being fun or worth it in the end.”

Yeah, that reasoning seemed pretty fair. Maybe she might have been worried about nothing… once you looked past his attitude issues, Akiyama was probably the best guy to come to for social situations, considering his talent. At least out of everyone else here…

“…No, I agree with that kind of reasoning…!” she exclaimed as her train of thought reached its end, and nodded vigorously. Akiyama seemed to find her over energetic reaction a little funny as he stifled a small chuckle, causing her to puff her cheeks lightly.

“Ah, by the way…” he was the one who leaned closer this time, studying her face for a moment. “Is it just me, or were your eyes a different color before?”

“Oh, uhm…” Sakurauchi froze up for a moment, blurting out the first explanation she could think of in a slightly awkward manner. “I kind of lost my contacts earlier, h-hehe…”

“I see…” Akiyama’s gaze bore into her for a moment before he flashed her a reassuring smile. “Well, I’m in a bit of a hurry right now, but if you’d like me to assist you in searching later, I might make some time for you.”

“Yes, that’s understandable, please go right ahead!” she couldn’t help but strike a salute, and he bid her farewell with a polite wave, walking off a lot calmer than when she’d come across him. He _was_ more than likely an extrovert; the conversation might have helped him relax. Letting out a relieved sigh upon coming to that conclusion, Sakurauchi mentally highfived herself.

Alright, that’s one step closer.

* * *

 

Chiba raised a brow when Hayama said she wanted to talk, but decided to go with her anyway, curious about what she could want. It didn’t seem like she was just going to goof around - which, by itself, was fine, but he _was_ a tad worried about it. Well, hopefully if it’s trouble, it’s not anything major.

The temperature had been dropping throughout the day - it seemed that the heat and cold respectively would always intensify towards the night, and mellow out as morning arrived -, and his clothes were rather light, so he was shivering quite a bit. He kind of regretted not snatching a blanket-cape like the one Hanamiya had been walking around with earlier, but he didn’t wanna go all the way back to his room now, so he would have to fetch one later.

They didn’t enter a room - Hayama simply stopped in a deserted section of the hallway, and for a few seconds, Chiba was unable to stop the rising feelings of paranoia inside of him, posture tensing up just a little bit. Well, if she tried anything, he could defend himself just fine. He had nothing to worry about. The thought managed to reassure him somewhat, and he subsequently relaxed.

“Chiba-kun, you know about the deal between Akiyama-kun and me, right?” she started, patiently waiting for a response with her arms crossed behind her back. Chiba blinked before giving her a small nod. “I was wondering if you wanted to try something similar to that as well.”

He frowned. He had a pretty good handle on his own emotions when it came to the way he acted, so it couldn’t be that.

“What do you mean?” he leaned against the wall, arms crossed, staring back at her for further explanation. She gave him a sheepish smile.

“Like I said, you’re pretty narrow-minded, right? I was thinking I could help you work on that.”

At first, Chiba didn’t even realise he’d just been insulted. Hayama sure as hell didn’t look like she _meant_ it as an insult, but it wasn’t exactly phrased politely either.

So what, was she offering to condition him like some kind of house pet? Pick a quality about him that she doesn’t like and make it go away herself? Although he was reluctant to admit it, maybe he _was_ a bit stubborn about certain things… but that didn’t mean he’d want someone watching his every action like a hawk to see when he was going to trip up again. He wasn’t a child, as much as he looked like one.

“…No, thanks, I’m good,” he huffed, pushing himself away from the wall. “I know you’re having fun playing mommy with Akiyama, but I don’t need a babysitter.”

He might’ve come off a little too harsh, but he wasn’t going to take it back. All he was doing is speaking his mind, after all.

Hayama frowned.

“You… know that’s not what I meant.”

Chiba took a deep breath.

“Yeah, well… that’s how it sounds to me.”

“I’m just trying to help out whoever I can,” Hayama placed her hands on her hips, clearly getting worked up about this. “I wasn’t calling any of you a kid, it’s just-“

“It’s just that in your head, that’s what we are,” Chiba cut her off, now sort of fired up himself. He’d been keeping his opinion quiet out of sheer politeness, but there was a point where he just had to speak his mind. “We’re not… unruly children that you need to whip into shape, or whatever. If you have a problem, you can talk about it like a normal person.”

“Oh, _I’m_ the one that looks down on everyone else, am I?” Hayama’s hands curled into fists by her sides before she released them again to switch to rapid hand gestures instead. “That’s rich coming from you.”

“I don’t look down on anyone!” Chiba retorted, positively fuming after the accusation. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Hayama Momoko, I’m not some kind of pampered rich kid- In fact, you’re the one who’s acting like a spoiled child.”

“How am I-“

“You’re acting like you’re so much better than everyone else,” Chiba cracked his knuckles to try to calm himself down again - he could hit her, but it wouldn’t solve anything. This wasn’t some kind of gang brawl; this was going to be a _slightly uncivilized_ conversation. “At least I have the decency to mind my own fucking business and not get all up in someone else’s. If you think I’m doing something wrong, _that’s great_ , you can tell me without treating me like a child in the process.”

He’d gone on quite the rant - he exhaled slowly, regaining his temper bit by bit. Maybe that was just an emotional outburst; maybe he couldn’t be sure how much of it would change once he calmed down fully. Maybe he’d want to apologise later. Either way, at least it was out of his system for now.

He wanted to get along with her, he really did, but this was just ridiculous.

Hayama stayed quiet for a few seconds, then turned her heels and left, walking away quite fast. Chiba’s gaze wordlessly followed her until she disappeared behind a corner.

He was already starting to feel guilty.

* * *

 

When Hanamiya stepped inside the cafeteria, he wasn’t expecting to see Takahashi cowering atop one of the tables, attempting to make himself look as small as possible. The source of his distress seemed to be… a snake crawling around on the ground.

There was only one person here that the animal could have come from - as a hand was placed on his shoulder, Hanamiya winced, turning around and expecting to see Natsume beaming at him, but was instead met with a rather concerned looking Izumi, who stopped him from walking further inside.

Minamoto was curled up in a corner, squishing herself against the wall, probably too scared to run past the snake without fearing being attacked, while Sakurauchi and Fujinomiya were peering outside from the kitchen. Apparently none of them were brave enough to approach it.

“Natsume-kun had told us that his pet had gone missing, so we’ve been looking all over for it,” Izumi sighed, letting go of Hanamiya. “You must’ve missed it earlier. He seemed pretty frantic.”

Hanamiya had been busy trying to wrap as many blankets around himself as humanly possible, so he had no doubts that he had indeed missed whatever meeting had gone down. Really, the only reason he even came here was to turn the oven on to get at least some heat again… that, and make himself some hot chocolate. So to stumble upon a scene like this wasn’t exactly something he’d been prepared for.

He wasn’t going anywhere near that snake without Natsume to tell him it would be okay.

“Guys, do any of you have some kind of net…?” Takahashi swallowed nervously, unable to move from his current predicament, the snake circling around the table he had escaped onto. It didn’t seem like it wanted to climb up anytime soon, but the boy still seemed significantly paler than usual.

“Yeah, because angering it is the right way to handle this…” Hanamiya muttered, pulling his blankets a little tighter around himself. He could try throwing one of them… but on one hand, he wasn’t nearly athletic enough for it to work, and on the other hand, he’d have to go closer for that to work. And… get up close and personal with Natsume’s baby…

He shook his head as a chill ran down his spine.

They all turned around when the door opened once again, and Kageyama stepped inside, holding a half-empty cookie jar in his hands. He froze for a moment upon realising what was happening, then slowly placed the jar down onto one of the tables right next to him, clearing his throat.

“Do you guys need help…?”

They all nodded simultaneously, and Kageyama stepped closer to Hanamiya, holding out his hand.

“Can I have a blanket?”

Hanamiya opened his mouth with a suspicious look, but Kageyama quickly continued, smiling nervously.

“We’ve found a snake at home before; I’m not just making stuff up.”

Hanamiya cautiously handed one of his blankets over, and Kageyama took it gratefully.

As he approached the snake, it went still, looking at him curiously. He bent down to carefully drape the blanket over it, making sure not to make any movements that were too sudden, then gestured for Takahashi to drop down.

“T-thank you, Kageyama-kun…” Takahashi breathed a relieved sigh as he stepped onto the ground, immediately taking a few steps in the direction of the exit just in case. Hanamiya really didn’t blame him.

“Where’s Natsume?” Kageyama raised his head, holding down 2 corners of the blanket to try to keep the snake from crawling out. It didn’t seem to be even attempting to, but Hanamiya was still glad he wasn’t going to risk it.

Before Izumi could explain the situation to him as well, Chiba had busted the door open, dragging Natsume inside by his wrist.

“I’ve brought him,” Chiba stated, letting go of the taller boy to glance up at him with narrowed eyes. “Go fetch your pet before it bites and kills someone.”

“She would never!” Natsume shook his head vehemently with a frown of disapproval. “Besides, her venom is not strong enough to kill you in such a small dose. It would only paralyze you for a few hours, if you were to get bitten.”

“Gee, thanks for the heads up.”

As soon as Kageyama stood up, the snake came slithering out from underneath the blanket, heading straight towards Natsume and starting to climb up one of his legs. Natsume opened his jacket to let it curl itself around his torso, petting it softly before flashing the others a grateful smile.

“I do thank you for not hurting her. I would have been heartbroken to find that my darling had been harmed.”

Kageyama dusted his hands off.

“Just doing my job,” he took a small bow; Hanamiya was about to ask for the blanket back when he realised something.

He wasn’t shivering anymore. In fact, he was starting to feel a little hot in his current apparel. As he let the blankets fall, he gradually realised that the room temperature had returned to normal.

Maybe the stuffed animals had realised that it was a pretty silly motive and given up. That would certainly be the more desirable option. And hopefully not-

The monitor in the room had turned on to show Kuroneko cackling.

“A body has been discovered! We’ll give you some time to investigate before the trial, then it’s showtime!”

Come to think of it… he missed it when this played during the first case. So this was what the body discovery announcement was like…

Everyone in the room had gone still for the umpteenth time, until Izumi broke the silence.

“Let’s go find the others.”


	9. Change

They weren’t really sure where to look until they reached the second floor, and saw Hayama leave the changing room looking rather pale, leaning against the wall with a hand clamped over her mouth. Hanamiya walked ahead, ignoring what the others were doing to step into the changing room. There was really nothing out of the ordinary inside _this_ room, but… the door leading to the pool had been left open. Once Hanamiya passed it, he regretted walking so far ahead just a little.

A body, lying face down with its lower half still in the water, was situated at the far end of the pool. The water surrounding it had been dyed red, and it looked like as though it could slip back into the water any moment. Hanamiya didn’t need to wonder who it was, though - the red vest with the black dress shirt was easily recognizable.

Akiyama had been found dead.

He didn’t even flinch when Kuroneko and Shironeko dropped from the ceiling this time - unlike some others, who apparently had just caught up with him. Paying the panicked shrieks no mind, he pursed his lips.

“So… someone really did fall for that motive, huh.”

“Don’t look so sad, Hanamiya-nyan, these things happen all the time,” Shironeko attempted to comfort him, Kuroneko rolling her eyes. Hanamiya took a step back, wearing a disgusted frown.

“Make yourself useful and give me that file you were handing out last time.”

Shironeko’s head hung low, dejected, but he obediently gave Hanamiya one of the tablets he’d been holding onto, only for the boy to go back to giving them the cold shoulder.

“Why must you all be so ungrateful?” Kuroneko shook her head in disbelief, before moving onto pestering the other students, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get a reaction out of Hanamiya. He let out a heavy sigh and unlocked the tablet.

The initial appearance of it was similar to that of Yokoyama’s - the silhouette with the red spots was present the same way as before. However, the information given seemed to be a little different.

_The victim is Akiyama Keiji._

_The body was found inside of the pool, with only the torso, arms and head outside of the water._

_There are several bruises on the victim's neck, and puncture wounds on his right foot, but there are no other traces of injury anywhere on his body._

_The time of death was a few minutes before 7pm._

There was no cause of death listed, and this time around they were actually given the time. Maybe… that meant the time of death wasn’t important in this case. He wouldn’t put it beyond Shironeko to try to manipulate them by only giving them certain type of information.

He raised his head again when Minamoto spoke up. Her tone of voice, though, was somehow… strange. She sounded a little less sure of herself than before, her seemingly endless amount of confidence having apparently evaporated.

“If that’s Akiyama-kun there… who will guard the body with Takahashi-kun? We can’t just leave one person here, right?”

Her expression was the same as always, but her hands were fiddling with her scarf in a rather restless manner, and she almost sounded like she was seeking approval. Maybe she finally realised being so brash wouldn’t lead to anything good - Hanamiya put the matter aside for now.

Chiba raised his hand.

“I’ll stay here with Takahashi,” he simply stated, Takahashi giving him a grateful look in return. Hanamiya’s confusion worsened - he wasn’t expecting Chiba of all people to be acting so levelheaded. He’d been kind of expecting him to lash out - he wasn’t _quite_ as much of a child as his appearance would have you believe, but he wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of self-control either.

“Let’s do this the same way we did it before,” Izumi suggested, glancing around. “Splitting up is the most efficient and fastest way of doing things if you ask me.”

“Agreed,” Natsume nodded, already pulling off one of his gloves. “I shall examine the body, unless you have any objections.”

“…You do that,” Izumi let out a sigh.

Hanamiya followed Natsume, Takahashi and Chiba as they approached the body carefully, Takahashi pulling it out of the water himself, averting his gaze. His complexion was a little more sickly than usual, but Hanamiya doubted fishing for dead bodies wasn’t something to leave most people unsettled.

As Takahashi took a few steps back, Chiba giving his back a few reassuring pats, Natsume kneeled down, his gloves next to him on the floor. Hanamiya turned his head to the side as soon as Natsume turned Akiyama’s body around - the expression that had been frozen onto Akiyama’s face made him feel a little sick to his stomach. Fortunately - although worryingly -, Natsume didn’t seem too bothered by it.

Natsume was finished rather quickly, albeit - sadly for everyone else - he left the corpse lying face-up, so Hanamiya’s gaze remained averted.

“I do not see anything else that may be noteworthy that the file had failed to mention,” Natsume remarked, putting his gloves back on. “As for the water, though… it really does seem to be blood. I doubt many other things could possess such a convincing scent.”

The heavy, metallic smell was indeed hard to ignore - Hanamiya was gradually starting to feel more and more lightheaded, and he took a few steps back to try to distance himself from it.

“Nothing else…?”

“I’m afraid not,” Natsume adjusted his glasses.

Hanamiya leaned against the wall, wiping some of the sweat that had gathered on his forehead with his sleeve. He wasn’t sure where he was going to go next, but it sure as hell wasn’t gonna be anywhere near this place.

“You could’ve just asked Natsume for a report later.”

His eyes met Chiba’s own, and he took a deep breath to compose himself.

“I don’t like being in the dark with these things,” he shook his head, lowering his hands. Even if he could ask Natsume later, he didn’t want to feel anxious about it until then. There was something strangely comforting about being fully aware of his circumstances at all times… which he couldn’t obtain until this killing game was over, but this was a start nevertheless.

“You don’t seem like the type,” Chiba raised a brow, and Hanamiya let out a dry laugh.

“You don’t seem like the type to stay calm either.”

Chiba went silent for a few seconds, then shoved his hands into his pockets.

“I’ve just been busy thinking about stuff, I guess,” his gaze finally left Hanamiya to stare at the floor instead. “I’m… more depressed than angry.”

Hanamiya’s only reply was a shrug.

When he was finished attempting to regain his balance, he finally left, running into Izumi and Fujinomiya in the changing room. Izumi seemed to be in the process of calming down girl, as she sat on a bench, trembling, her glasses clutched in her hands.

“Ah, Hanamiya-kun,” Izumi waved his hand briefly as a greeting, “Did Natsume-kun tell you anything?”

“He confirmed there was blood in the water,” Hanamiya shrugged, unable to suppress a frown. “He said pretty much everything else is in the file.”

“I see…” Izumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Say, could you go check up on Hayama-san for me? She seemed rather distraught, and I’d really rather prefer if people weren’t walking off by themselves in a state like that.”

“I guess…” Hanamiya reluctantly nodded, stretching his back a little. At least he’d be away from the crime scene. Yokoyama’s wasn’t nearly half as bad to be around. “Will Fujinomiya-san be okay?”

Fujinomiya gave him a weak smile, although she probably had no idea what she was looking at without her glasses.

“P-please don’t worry about me, Hanamiya-kun, I’ll be okay…”

She didn’t sound very sure of that, but Izumi was around, so Hanamiya decided to agree to it for now.

As for Hayama… where could she be?

The closest room was the gym, and she did seem to be hanging around that area an awful lot… and considering the fact that Hanamiya really didn’t want to walk all the way down to the first floor to see if she was in her room, he poked his head inside the gym instead.

He noted with relief that he was indeed right. Hayama was sitting on one of the benches, her hands placed on her knees, her head hanging a little low. She didn’t seem to notice Hanamiya walking up to her, and flinched when he tapped her shoulder lightly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just taking a quick break is all,” she got to her feet, dusting off her clothes. “I’ll go investigate right away-“

Hanamiya cleared his throat, effectively cutting her off.

“Izumi-kun wanted me to check up on you.”

Hayama let out a weak, nervous laugh, playing with her hair.

“Is that so? That’s very considerate of him. I’ll go talk to him later, if you want, you don’t have to trouble yourself by going back.”

Examining her from head-to-toe, Hanamiya’s frown only deepened.

“Look, everyone is aware that you and Akiyama-kun were pretty much besties,” he leaned against the wall, staring at her rather intently. “Nobody will blame you if you take a break. Chill.”

Hayama went silent for a few seconds, then slowly lowered her hands to fidget with them instead. Based on her expression and the restless way she kept moving around… she was probably on the verge of unleashing a giant rant of some kind. Hanamiya had to wonder why people kept doing that around him - he didn’t look _that_ nice, did he? Not to mention the fact that he really had no special attachments towards anyone here.

Maybe it was that last part. Maybe venting to someone that wasn’t your friend was easier than opening up to someone close to you for some of these guys.

_How flattering._

“Hanamiya-kun… do I seem arrogant to you?”

Uh oh, he was right.

He raised his hand to rub his eyes; he was already feeling tired just at the thought of a long conversation at a time like this. And a conversation like _this_ of all things… well, he could probably guess what it was about.

“Honestly?” he tilted his head, and Hayama nodded.

“Honestly.”

“…Kinda, yeah,” Hanamiya gradually found himself taking a seat, not wanting to stand around in one place for too long. Resting his head against the wall, he made a low humming sound as he thought. “Hayama-san, you like yourself, right?”

“What kind of a question is that…?” she sat down next to him, seemingly a little confused. “I… think everyone has things they like and dislike about themselves…”

“Yeah,” Hanamiya’s eyes fluttered closed, wanting to focus on what he was saying better. “That’s a good mindset to have, but… I think you pride yourself on keeping it together, so to speak. I think… you can accept your own flaws without losing confidence in yourself, and you can apologise when you think you’ve done something wrong.”

Hayama didn’t seem like she was going to interrupt, so Hanamiya continued with a bit of difficulty.

“If… everyone else was like you in that regard, it might be fine. But I don’t think most people like being lectured. It’s… the individual’s own responsibility to improve on themselves. If you want to point something out… do it politely.”

He noticed his own speech slowing down considerably, so he waited for her to respond this time around.

“But you’re very blunt yourself, aren’t you?” Hayama asked, not at all bothered by the fact that he looked like he was half asleep. Hanamiya shrugged.

“That’s because I don’t care what people think of me. If you want to be likeable…” he yawned once more, raising his hand to lazily cover his mouth, “be nice and polite.”

He could sympathize, kind of, but his own case was different. He didn’t want to bother trying to be popular with others - he was an introvert to the core, and changing himself just to be liked would be too much of a chore -, while Hayama was clearly a social butterfly. He didn’t bother giving people advice or lecturing them about anything unless they asked, while Hayama was intent on constantly handing out her own tips and opinions. Which… really wasn’t wrong, but coupled with all the confidence she had, it really did make her seem a little full of herself.

But maybe that was just him being so hung up on such trivial matters.

“…Isn’t it hard to ignore it when people say bad things about you, though?”

Should it be? It’s never been too hard for him. But then again… his hobbies were really all he cared about.

“There will always be people who dislike you, no matter what,” he pinched his own cheek weakly to try to wake himself up, opening his eyes slightly. “Either you act how you feel like, or you build some kind of persona just so you can be popular with everyone you meet.”

He stood up, using the wall as his support, almost poking himself in the eye when he attempted to push up his glasses.

“Or… you find a middle road, where you stay true to yourself but still consider how others around you might feel.”

He felt like he’d been talking for ages. It _was_ rather difficult to summarize his feelings without rambling… but it was also kind of tiring to speak pretty much by himself for so long. Come to think of it… he’d done the same thing with Kageyama, hadn’t he? Geez, no wonder this tired him out so fast…

“…Thanks,” Hayama got to her feet as well, giving his shoulder a small pat. “You know… I think you’re still pretty likeable, even if you don’t seem like you’re trying at all.”

Was… that a backhanded compliment of some kind?

“…I appreciate the honesty,” he sighed, taking a step to the side to get her hand off himself. “If you don’t mind… I’ll go back to investigating now.”

He’d rather not be executed because he took the time to give someone a half-assed pep talk.

Hayama closed her eyes for a few seconds, then nodded.

“I… will too. I owe at least this much to Akiyama-kun.”

Alright, that was that.

Hayama left the room, leaving Hanamiya by himself to check the gym freely. He did want to look around before he left, just in case.

And fortunately, it wasn’t for nothing. He found a small, half-empty box of medicine hidden behind one of the lockers - he barely even noticed it, it was so tiny. He didn’t bother reading the text on the back, simply stuffing it into his pocket for now, deciding to check it later.

All this talk about self-improvement… people here had their priorities straight, huh?

As soon as he left the gym he ran into Minamoto.

“Hanamiya-kun,” she started, looking strangely determined. “Can I ask you something?”

Not again.

“…Sure…” he composed his expression, waiting for her to continue, and let out a relieved sigh when what she blurted out wasn’t a personal confession of some kind.

“Do you think… we should look in anyone else’s room?”

“No,” he said simply, already walking away. Minamoto, unfortunately, seemed intent on following him no matter what for now.

“But… what if someone has hidden crucial evidence in theirs?”

“They’d be practically waving a sign around that they’re the culprit, if they did that,” Hanamiya half-mumbled. “Akiyama-kun’s room is fine, but I think you can leave everyone else be.”

“…I’m just trying to be helpful, geez,” she crossed her arms, regaining a bit of her previous attitude. “Alright, I’ll go check Akiyama-kun’s then.”

“You do that,” Hanamiya took a sharp turn, leaving her behind. Since he found medicine again… the infirmary or the store would probably be good. As he got near to the former, though, he suddenly felt the ground disappear from underneath him as he fell straight on his backside, landing on the floor with a dull thud. So, the floor was apparently wet… that would’ve been good to know.

“Hanamiya-san, are you alright!?”

He accepted the outstretched hand offered to him by Sakurauchi, and was practically yanked to his feet, wincing a little at the pressure it put on his wrist.

“I’m good. My clothes… not so much.”

His pants had gotten a little wet in the process, almost as if-

He stopped himself there, deciding that he would go change as soon as he got the chance to.

“Did someone spill something here…?” he scoffed, trying to get a better look at the floor. He’d landed right in the middle of a small puddle - no wonder he slipped!

Sakurauchi tapped her chin, but she didn’t seem to know what that was about either.

“I’ve been on the first floor almost all day long, so I wouldn’t know. Maybe someone went for a swim and didn’t dry themselves properly afterwards.”

Maybe.

Hanamiya let out a sigh, thanking the heavens that his shoes didn’t get soaked.

“Well, I’ll go ask the others!” Sakurauchi offered helpfully, and Hanamiya gave her a quiet ‘thanks’. “Kageyama-san and Nakajima-san are in the infirmary, you can ask them while I go talk to everyone else!”

And with that, she sped off.

Hanamiya opened the door to the infirmary, while simultaneously addressing the guys inside.

“Alright, which one of you spilled something right outside the door and didn’t bother to mop it up?”

At first, he was greeted by a silence filled with confusion, then Nakajima went back to what he was doing with Kageyama adjusting his hat.

“No idea,” Kageyama said, placing back the bottle he’d lifted from a shelf to its original position before glancing back at Hanamiya immediately, his gaze gradually straying downwards. “Did you-“

“I landed in a puddle,” Hanamiya narrowed his eyes, and Kageyama raised his hands defensively, already backing down. “What’re you guys doing?”

“Nakajima found some medicine near the pool earlier, so we’re trying to find clues here.”

Nakajima appeared to be crouching next to a bed, staring at it rather intensely with a scowl. It was almost like he was glaring at the sheets.

“I… found something in the gym too,” Hanamiya dug up the box he’d found earlier, holding it up for Kageyama to see. And surprise, surprise, he still had no idea what it was even after reading the name of it.

“Those are sleeping pills,” Nakajima replied, briefly glancing at his hand before lowering himself onto the floor to peer underneath the bed. “We- or rather, I found painkillers.”

He looked like he was going to straighten up, but did a double take before he could.

“There’s blood over here.”

Hanamiya walked a little closer, attempting to bend his back to check that way, too lazy to kneel.

“Are you sure it’s blood?”

“You’re welcome to get a taste, if you wanna be like Natsume,” Nakajima sent a glare his way.

“I think I’m good,” Hanamiya backed off, not caring to argue. Natsume might walk by later and check it himself. “I’ll be going, unless you guys found something else of note…”

“Go ahead,” Kageyama waved his hand, going back to examining the shelves.

Alright, that was one less thing he would have to worry about.

Leaving the room, he came to a halt for a moment. Where should he go next? Seeing as how the cause of death was missing from the file… that might have been important for this case. But he hadn’t really found anything that could have been used as a murder weapon.

The rooms he hadn’t checked yet were… the library and the entire first floor. He groaned. This might be a bit of a pain in the ass.

Aside from that as well… the motive seemed a little strange. Sure, it was incredibly unpleasant, but it wasn’t unbearable or anything. Based on the fact that it got worse with each passing day, he could assume that it _might_ have caused something sooner or later, but he didn’t think it was at that level yet…

So why did someone kill Akiyama then?

It wouldn’t be something simple like ‘they got impatient’ - this was murder they were talking about. There had to be a proper reason behind it, right…?

He lifted his hands, massaging his temples. What _was_ something that could have caused the culprit to snap, then, so to speak? What else was there that could have made someone want to hurry?

…The files, maybe…?

That… still sounded kind of far-fetched, but then again, what did he know?

He wondered if he should discuss this with someone else. The cats were out of the question - he doubted any of the two would give him what he needed -, so he could either go talk to one of his classmates about it… or investigate the room himself.

He chose the latter.

As he stepped inside, he took note of the fact that it was empty. Nobody else seemed to be nearby - either they were finished with investigating, or they have gone down to the first floor like he was going to. Either way, this was a good thing, as he wanted to explore the place by himself, undisturbed.

Minutes have passed, and he hadn’t found anything of substance yet. He knew Takahashi had thoroughly searched the place with some help, but double checking had never hurt anyone, so he kept at it. He dragged a chair near one of the bookshelves so he could stand on it to reach properly, and let out some kind of weird, panicked noise when the chair wobbled a little. He held onto the shelf to try to keep himself from falling off, and lost his balance even more when the shelf moved.

He landed on the floor with a small yelp, a couple of books missing his head by inches as they cluttered to the floor around him. He reached for the glasses that had ended up near his feet, and discovered with relief that they didn’t seem to be broken. God knows if he could find a replacement for them here… although the store might have had something.

He got back on the chair again, careful not to move around too much this time.

He knew he hadn’t broken the shelf - the rules stated that they weren’t allowed to destroy the property of the ship, and he was pretty sure the shelf was a part of that -, so that must have meant that either it was already broken, or it was meant to be moved. He touched the other side of the shelf and gently pushed down on it, revealing a small door on the wall that had only become partially visible after his little accident.

Takahashi could probably reach it without having something to stand on, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that he’d miss it.

Opening the door, he found a stack of papers inside, and pulled it out with a bit of difficulty, some of them fluttering to the ground. He climbed off the chair, almost falling again in the process, and gathered all the papers on the bed next to him.

He found the ones that were relevant to him… they seemed to be an extension of the high school profile he’d been given by Takahashi earlier. And… surprisingly, his grades still weren’t too great. Disregarding that, though, as he thought, there was no mention of Hope’s Peak whatsoever. Either these files were fake and were only trying to confuse them… or their _memories_ of the invitations were fake, and they really weren’t Super High School Level students.

He wouldn’t know which one it was until they got out.

Had the culprit found this, perhaps? Hanamiya only discovered it by coincidence, though.

He was about to attempt to gather the papers into a single pile and carry them outside, when something caught his eye.

The last page of his file seemed to be abruptly cut off, with the text ‘EXPELLED’ stamped onto the bottom in bold, capital letters. He raised a brow. He wasn’t _that_ bad of a student, was he? He wouldn’t get himself expelled from school… his parents could tolerate him being a little below average, but they definitely wouldn’t let him kick himself out.

Maybe this was all fake, then. It… did seem like it could get most people awfully curious about what was right and wrong about their memories, and he wouldn’t put it past the mastermind to make stuff up to get his classmates to kill each other. Should he even show these to the others? Wouldn’t that just make it worse?

…No, someone might end up finding it anyway. And keeping it to himself would just make him look suspicious, if that happened. If everyone knew about it, at least they could try to prevent each other from acting hastily.

He nodded to himself, starting to pick the papers up.

Once he had all of them in his hands, he stepped outside, turning his head to see if he could spot someone else. Unfortunately nobody seemed to be hanging around nearby, but as soon as he took a step forward the monitors lit up again. Shironeko seemed suspiciously absent, while Kuroneko was sitting atop a table with her legs crossed.

“Time’s up, children! Gather in front of my lovely monument if you don’t want to be shishkebabbed.”

Hanamiya rolled his eyes - he’d heard that same speech once before. Honestly, the more he saw of the cats, the more annoyed he was by them. Not that they weren’t unbearable before…

Suddenly Shironeko leaped onto the table as well, promptly pushing Kuroneko off.

“I hope you all used the time you’ve been given wisely. Please make sure not to be late!”

And the screens went dark.

Okay, so he wouldn’t have enough time to discuss what he found before the trial started apparently. That wasn’t too bad, they could always talk about it during the trial of afterwards; finding the killer was more important for now. Although even thinking back to Aragaki’s execution made him feel a little nauseous, and he _really_ wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through that again.

But it wasn’t like he had a choice in the end.

He walked towards the statue on the first floor, balancing the stack of papers atop each other with quite a bit of difficulty - his sense of balance wasn’t the best to begin with, and he wasn’t exactly strong -, almost tripping on the stairs a few times. Fortunately his clothes had already dried - he already knew he wouldn’t have enough time to change them.

When he arrived, he immediately dumped everything into a startled Izumi’s arms, only keeping his own file, clutching it to his chest. Would he have enough time to take it back to his room? He didn’t want to risk being punished by taking too much time… but then again, there weren’t many people around just yet to begin with.

In the end, he sat down next to the statue, too lazy to run, or even walk fast, deciding to put it away once the trial was over, and observing everyone else for now.

Izumi, once realising what he’d given him, began walking around to let everyone take the pieces of paper that were relevant to them, leaving Fujinomiya by herself. She was soon joined by Sakurauchi, who gave her head a small, reassuring pat - which did seem to calm the shorter girl down a little.

Chiba and Takahashi arrived together, with Hayama seemingly walking from the same direction. Tsutsui and Minamoto had leisurely walked over from Akiyama’s room - _of course_ those 2 would want to investigate there, why was Hanamiya even surprised? -, while Nakajima stood in the corner, clearly relieved that Kageyama was leaving him be.

Natsume, this time around carrying his walking stick with him, didn’t seem worried in the slightest, as he marched up to the others with Komatsu following him closely behind. The latter was cheerfully chattering, as always; Natsume was probably one of the few people at this point who could tolerate it, most likely because he didn’t even find it that weird.

Once everyone had arrived, the statue began spinning the same way it had before, everyone else a lot less surprised than the first time it happened. Hanamiya wasn’t sure if starting to get used to these things was good or not - it more than likely wasn’t -, but he waited for everyone to enter the elevator before he followed them himself.

The descent was quite short, although the room the doors revealed looked a lot different than before. Unless Hanamiya was remembering it wrong, that is - maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. Either way, it only made him feel disoriented.

The layout of the court room seemed to be the same, with the exception of the now present portraits of Aragaki and Akiyama, the former crossed out with a pair of chains, the latter with a knife and fork. The more of these they’d be surrounded by, the creepier this place would get… not that that was a pleasant thought to imagine even regardless of the unsettling quality to it.

Kuroneko and Shironeko were both sitting in their thrones, giving them the same instructions as before, bickering with each other as usual. Hanamiya walked towards his own spot a little reluctantly, glancing around at everyone one last time before he came to a halt at the position assigned to him.

The same uncomfortable tightness in his stomach from last time had returned. They managed before, so there really was no reason for him to be feeling so nervous… was what he wanted to tell himself. But their lives were on the line, and even if they themselves survived, they’d have to witness another one of those disturbing executions in the end.

He took a deep breath.

Hopefully as long as he could think clearly, it would be fine…

The trial begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im thinking abt posting proper 5-event ftes in a bonus chapter for each chara when the fic is done :0c bc theres a lot of backstory that wasnt/wont be revealed for some of them, and also bc i wanna try the proper fte format


	10. Poisonous rose

“You already know the rules, right?” Kuroneko asked in an annoyed tone, crossing her legs. “I hope you’re not expecting me to explain them again. That’d be too much effort!”

Hanamiya rolled his eyes. The rules were all listed in the e-Handbooks, so they wouldn’t have needed an explanation either way. Everyone else seemed to agree with him, although Chiba was the first one to voice his opinion out loud.

“You guys can shut up,” he narrowed his eyes at the cats, his hands on his hips. “If we have to do this anyway, just let us start without your whining.”

“Chiba-nyan is so cold…” Shironeko whimpered, cowering in his seat. “You know I’m on your side, right?”

Chiba cracked his knuckles, and the sound echoed throughout the room, Sakurauchi attempting to calm him down, the only one directly next to him. Shironeko weakly sobbed.

“…Either way, we should do this the same way we did it last time,” Izumi spoke up, gathering everyone’s attention. “The most efficient way is eliminating people with alibis first. Since we have the time of death, it should be easy. On that note…” he cleared his throat, glancing around at various people. “During the time of the murder, I was in the cafeteria with Takahashi-kun, Sakurauchi-san, Fujinomiya-san and Minamoto-san.”

“Hanamiya-kun and Kageyama-kun should be removed from the suspects too, right?” Takahashi brought it up a little uncertainly, glancing between the boys in question. “I don’t think they would’ve had time to arrive so early if one of them was the killer.”

Izumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, making a low humming sound as he thought it over.

“…Kageyama-kun was cutting it a little close, but I agree about Hanamiya-kun. I believe he joined us before Akiyama-kun was killed.”

“He’s not the athletic type anyway, clearly,” Chiba added, examining Hanamiya from head-to-toe. “I doubt he could sprint all the way from the pool to the cafeteria.”

Hanamiya wasn’t even close to being offended. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been seen running anywhere here yet.

“Glad we agree on that,” he sighed, adjusting his glasses slightly. “Now, either we continue poking fun at my physical abilities, or we move on to more important matters.”

Minamoto had to stifle a snicker.

“Nakajima-chan and I were also together the entire time,” Tsutsui raised her hand, Nakajima crossing his arms with a scoff. He probably wasn’t very happy about the fact, but he wasn’t going to argue if it was providing him with an alibi.

“I went looking for Natsume as soon as we found his snake,” Chiba sighed, lowering his arms. “I guess I’ve got nothing.”

“Uhm… when did you find Natsume-kun?” Fujinomiya asked timidly, fidgeting quite intensely, and Chiba frowned as he tried to remember.

“I didn’t check the time, but I know I dragged him back pretty much as soon as I found him.”

They all looked to Natsume for confirmation, and he nodded with a polite smile.

“Yui-tan has been looking by herself!” Komatsu stated proudly, puffing her chest out. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so happy about that, but at least they wouldn’t have to worry about her lying… most likely.

“I… was by myself too,” Hayama combed her fingers through her hair, biting her lip. “I didn’t come across anyone else either.”

So… to summarize it, the ones without alibi were Chiba, Natsume, Komatsu, Hayama, and Kageyama’s was a little shaky as well. The suspects had been narrowed down considerably… but this much wouldn’t be enough.

“Hey… since we have the time of death, why don’t we try to figure out the cause next?” Sakurauchi suggested, nervously looking around to see if the others would approve. She let out a sigh of relief when several students nodded, relaxing immediately.

“If there was that much blood there, then surely, it must’ve been some kind of stab wound, right?” Takahashi fiddled with his headphones, visibly cringing upon remembering the sight.

“He didn’t have any new wounds like that, that can’t be it,” Hayama shook her head.

“But the file said-“

“The injury on Akiyama-kun’s foot is from a few days ago,” Natsume interrupted, leaning on his walking stick to stand more comfortably. “Have you perhaps forgotten, Takahashi-kun? I have been assisting him in taking care of it every day.”

“A-ahh, I’m sorry…” Takahashi backed down with an apologetic smile, bowing his head slightly afterwards. “I didn’t think it was that since the file mentioned it.”

“But then where did all the blood come from…?” Chiba furrowed his brows, clearly puzzled by the whole ordeal. “There was a _lot_ , you know, it couldn’t have been from a simple paper cut. And Natsume would’ve found something if it was from a wound…”

“Do we even know if that was blood in the pool?” Hayama’s gaze turned to Natsume, and he obediently responded as usual.

“I made sure to confirm it, naturally,” he nodded, smile widening slightly. “Hanamiya-kun, Chiba-kun and Takahashi-kun were all there to hear it.”

“What a pain…” Chiba shook his head in disbelief. Hanamiya, on the other hand, tapped his chin slowly.

If the blood in the pool was real, but Akiyama had no new open wounds, then there was only a single possibility left.

He raised his hand lazily, catching the attention of numerous people around him right away. It was most likely because he was one of the least expected to speak. He didn’t really mind, if he had to be honest - at least he didn’t have to raise his voice to get everyone else to quiet down.

“What if the blood isn’t from Akiyama-kun?” he dropped his hand already, tired of having to hold it up. “There was blood in the infirmary, right? The culprit could have used that to try to confuse us.”

“Did anyone check the fridge in there?” Izumi directed the question at everyone, and they all shook their heads one by one until Nakajima cleared his throat.

“I’m pretty sure there was less blood than the first time I looked,” he tilted his head slightly, nodding to himself after a few seconds had passed. “Besides, Hanamiya’s theory is pretty much the only thing we’ve got, so might as well go with it.”

“So if he didn’t die from blood loss… or anything of the sort, what else could it be?”

“…Choking?”

All eyes turned to Kageyama, and Minamoto tilted her head.

“You mean drowning.”

“No, I mean choking,” Kageyama shook his head, lifting the tablet with the file on it. “This here says he has marks on his neck, yeah? He might’ve gotten strangled. That’d explain the lack of a murder weapon.”

“You really think someone here could pin the guy down long enough to strangle him?” Minamoto argued stubbornly, raising a brow. “He was one of the tallest guys here, and you’ve seen how strong he is.”

“I… yeah, that’s fair,” Kageyama frowned, unsure of where to go from there.

Fujinomiya looked as though she might cry when she raised her shaking hand next, voice trembling.

“M-maybe… Chiba-kun c-could. Out of the ones w-who don’t have alibis… I t-think he’s the only one w-who could pull it off.”

She immediately shrunk back, probably afraid that Chiba was going to snap at her, but all he did was freeze for a few seconds. Maybe he hadn’t been expecting to be accused so soon. Either way, instead of yelling back at her, he crossed his arms with a scowl.

“…I can’t argue with that,” he reluctantly admitted it before quickly continuing. “But pinning him down in a fight isn’t the only way to do that. They could’ve knocked him out somehow and then done pretty much whatever they wanted.”

“Oh, yeah!” Kageyama’s eyes lit up, as though he just remembered something. “They could’ve drugged him. Nakajima and I found painkillers near the pool, and Hanamiya found some sleeping pills lying around too.”

Hanamiya unconsciously reached inside his pocket to grasp the box inside of it before pulling it out and turning it around in his hands. He wasn’t sure why the culprit would try to hide these instead of throwing them out, if they did indeed use them, but it wasn’t like he could just ask.

“The painkillers were Akiyama-kun’s,” Hayama interjected, sounding a bit uncertain until her eyes met Natsume’s. “Natsume-kun recommended them to him, I think. He had them on him all the time.”

“That is correct,” Natsume backed her up just as she was done speaking. “Although I do not know anything about the circumstances of the sleeping pills.”

“If Akiyama-kun was drugged, we’re back to square one again…” Minamoto sighed, clearly displeased by the fact. “So I guess this is the time to speak up if you’ve any ideas.”

“Uhm… I do have something that I don’t really understand,” fiddling with the hem of her jacket, Fujinomiya swallowed nervously, obviously unsure if she wanted to take the initiative in such a situation. She was probably worried she’d just get shut down. “Did someone really kill Akiyama-kun because of a motive like that…?”

Ah, finally; Hanamiya had been wondering about this himself. He recalled the files he’d found in Shironeko’s room, many others around him doing the same. They most likely reached the same, or at least a similar conclusion.

“Hanamiya found these, right?” Kageyama held up his own papers, Hanamiya simply nodding as an answer, Izumi taking it upon himself to explain it properly to his relief.

“Hanamiya-kun got them from the room Takahashi-kun got open, from what he told me,” he bit his lip, scanning the page on top quickly. “It’s possible that the killer also found them and simply hid them once more to avert suspicion from themselves… or to prevent anyone else from making a move before them.”

“That still could’ve been anyone,” Minamoto huffed, placing her hands on her hips. “I doubt it narrows down the list of suspects. Akiyama-kun could’ve gotten them himself for all we know, only for the culprit to hide them again.”

“Minamoto-chan and I have checked Akiyama-chan’s room quite thoroughly,” Tsutsui clutched her phone a little tighter, “but we didn’t exactly find anything that might give us any clues. I apologise.”

“So we have no idea if he knew about them or not…” Hayama’s frown deepened. “About the files Hanamiya-kun found… Were there any pages missing that any of you noticed?”

They all shook their heads in unison, Izumi commenting on it additionally.

“I took it upon myself to check the ones belonging to Aragaki-san and… Yokoyama-san, as well as Akiyama-kun. I didn’t notice anything unusual about them; they were strikingly similar to mine.”

 So they couldn’t use that as some kind of clue…

“What’s the deal with these, anyway?” Chiba held up his own, squinting at it with a frustrated expression. “They’re obviously fake, right? Unless we all got selective amnesia at the same time, we’re still in our first year.”

“What’s the point of these if they’re fake, though?”

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna go ahead and overthink it,” Chiba rolled his eyes, and Izumi raised his hands defensively. “They might just wanna confuse us even further.”

“They’re clearly succeeding…” Nakajima muttered to himself before clearing his throat. “I found blood in the infirmary under one of the beds. Kageyama can confirm it. If he remembers, that is,” he shot him a sideways glance with narrowed eyes, and Kageyama rapidly nodded.

“I remember that, yeah. It was a pretty weird spot.”

“So either the bed was moved, or someone who was injured hid underneath it?” Takahashi tilted his head, and Nakajima shook his.

“The bed hasn’t been moved at all.”

“How do you know for sure?” Takahashi persisted, only for Nakajima to sigh dramatically.

“I’ve photographic memory, so I suggest you don’t question me on these things if you don’t want to lose even more time. The bed didn’t even look like it’s been used.”

“So someone was hiding underneath the bed, then?”

“Or rather… was hidden by someone,” Nakajima mused, tapping his chin slowly with his pen. “I’ve… a theory. If Akiyama was drugged, the most convenient place to do it would be the infirmary. The culprit could’ve hid him underneath the bed, then drag him over to the pool later. The blood could be from his wound if it reopened. There really wasn’t much of it.”

“Why would the culprit need to go through the trouble of hiding him, though?” Sakurauchi asked, clearly confused by what Nakajima was trying to say. From the looks of it… he was having a bit of a hard time explaining himself as well.

“Natsume’s snake escaped about an hour before Akiyama was killed, right? The culprit could have used that to their advantage. Everyone was looking on the first floor, so they were free to move around on the second floor as much as they wanted without being seen.”

“They couldn’t have possibly foreseen something like that happening…” Minamoto’s voice trailed off, the pair silently staring at each other for several seconds before Nakajima continued.

“I’m saying either the culprit set the snake free, or Natsume was an accomplice.”

An accomplice… That wouldn’t make much sense. No matter how messed up Natsume seemed on the surface, Hanamiya doubted he would sacrifice himself for someone else in such a manner. If anything, that only made it seem more unlikely. He had nothing to gain from it, so why would he agree to a plan like that?

Natsume let the snake wander around on its own every once in a while; if the culprit agitated it on purpose, it could have slithered off on its own. It would be enough to get everyone to either hide in their room or start looking for it before it bit anyone.

“My, suspecting me in such a manner…” Natsume chuckled, “how utterly shameless. I’m afraid I cannot cave under such accusations.”

Sakurauchi’s hand shot up high, cutting off Nakajima before he could retort.

“Can I interrupt real quick?”

She didn’t wait for a response, resuming speaking almost immediately, ignoring Nakajima’s muttering to himself along with Natsume’s amused look thrown in her direction.

“The hallway in front of the infirmary was wet. Is that… important?”

“Oh yeah, Hanamiya landed in a puddle, didn’t he?”

Kageyama’s mouth was hidden behind his hand, but Hanamiya was sure he found the situation rather entertaining. He resisted the urge to reward him with a sarcastic response, composing his expression instead and focusing on Sakurauchi’s question.

“…If Akiyama-kun’s wounds had reopened, some blood could have dripped onto the ground while the culprit was carrying… or dragging him,” he corrected himself, gripping the podium slightly, already ridiculously tired from having to stand in one place for so long. He couldn’t afford to get distracted by sheer exhaustion; he had to concentrate on solving the case. “Maybe the culprit tried to clean up the blood, but missed some of it under the bed. If they mopped up that section first, it could have dried before anyone else had entered the room…”

“And if they were hurrying with cleaning the hallway, they could’ve gotten sloppy and hurried,” Tsutsui finished his train of thought, nodding at the end of it to show that she agreed. “There wouldn’t have been enough time for it to dry before we all returned to the second floor.”

“Great, that still doesn’t help much,” Chiba shoved his hands into his pockets, looking quite tired of the discussion himself. “Anyone else?”

A short silence fell upon all 13 students present. Hanamiya couldn’t remember anything else that might’ve been important either. He doubted that Hayama was the kind of person to backstab someone in such a way, and either Kageyama was an incredibly good actor, or he wasn’t a likely suspect either. But again, those were still assumptions, and they still had multiple suspects if he was going off on those.

Fortunately for him, _he_ didn’t have to think of a solution.

“I think it’s Natsume-kun,” Izumi broke the silence, Minamoto clapping her hands once his statement registered for everyone else.

“You _think._ Good job, Izumi-kun; that is some wonderful deductive reasoning there. Are there any other things you might _think_? Or are you actually going to provide some evidence?”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Nakajima raised a brow at her outburst, causing Minamoto’s cheeks to turn the slightest shade of red. She really was just saying whatever came to her mind with no filter, wasn’t she? “Stop making yourself into a hypocrite and let him finish.”

“I am rather curious as well. May I ask why I’m being singled out?” Natsume’s stare bore into Izumi rather intensely, to the point where even Hanamiya shivered slightly. Izumi, on the other hand, didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

“There are several reasons,” Izumi closed his eyes, possibly recounting them in his head. “First off… the snake is your pet. Considering that fact and your talent, you’re the most likely person to try to cause a distraction by letting it roam free.”

“She could have simply gotten startled and ran off on her own,” Natsume adjusted his glasses, some faint hissing coming from one of his sleeves. “She can be quite timid; it would not be difficult to scare her and cause her to flee.”

“The culprit would have risked being bitten in the process,” Hanamiya made a low humming sound, tilting his head. “And the snake could be venomous. I’m not trying to accuse you here, but… I certainly wouldn’t want to risk it attacking me instead.”

“Furthermore,” Izumi took it upon himself to continue, giving Hanamiya a thankful look, “there’s also the motive… And I’m not talking about the files. Or rather… not _just_ the files.”

“Natsume-kun looked like he was hanging in there pretty well, though,” Takahashi mentioned it carefully, expression one of hopefulness, not wanting to have his point disregarded again. From what Hanamiya could remember, though, he was right. If anything, Natsume seemed to thrive during the hotter parts of the cycle.

“…It’s about the snake, isn’t it?” Nakajima pursed his lips, giving Izumi’s reasoning careful consideration. “If someone would have a reason to act so soon, it’s Natsume. I can’t imagine rapid temperature changes like that are good for any animal.”

“Add the files Hanamiya-kun found to that, and it makes much more sense,” Izumi nodded. “Natsume-kun could have found them himself and decided to act afterwards.”

He was one of the most observant people here as well. If someone had discovered them before Hanamiya, Natsume was a likely candidate.

“Hmm, I see…” Natsume’s smile returned, and he let go of his walking stick to clasp his hands together, letting it rest against the podium. “Is that really enough to frame me as the culprit, though?”

“So you’re saying you didn’t do it,” Chiba narrowed his eyes at him, only for Natsume to beam right back.

“Naturally.”

Were they stuck? Natsume did seem like the most likely option… but they hadn’t gotten a confession out of him, and they were basing this partially on assumptions. It wouldn’t be a good idea to vote until they were sure of the culprit.

Komatsu suddenly leapt on top of her podium, her arms opened wide as she balanced on top of it with one foot, standing on her tiptoes. As she swayed from side to side, she seemed to be smiling from ear-to-ear, giggling in the same unsettling manner as always.

“Oho, Natsume-tan has been almost caught! Yui-tan wants to help, she really, _really_ wants to!” she exclaimed, spinning around excitedly without falling to the ground somehow. Her bell jingled with the enthusiastic movements, giving the spectacle even more of an otherworldly vibe.

“Komatsu-san, you should get off before you hurt yourself,” Izumi scolded her gently, Kageyama next to her already holding his arms out in case she fell. Komatsu didn’t listen, though.

“Yui-tan has seen a very special secret! Does Natsume-tan want her to keep it to herself? Does he?” she clapped her hands together a few times before letting out another lighthearted laugh. “It’s too bad if he does, because she’s going to say it anyway.”

“If you’ve got some kind of clue, just tell us…” Minamoto muttered to herself, too curious about what Komatsu was going to say to properly call her out. Hanamiya’s attention was completely focused on the girl as she took a seat on top of the podium, swinging her legs back and forth.

“You see, Yui-tan was veeeery curious about something…” she reached into her dress, slowly pulling out some bandages with dry blood on them. Hanamiya tried his best not to avert his gaze. “Akiyama-tan’s pockets were reeeeaally big, so Yui-tan wanted to see what was inside, and found this!”

Natsume let out a sigh, turning his head to the side with a small shrug, not even trying to interrupt. He probably already had a pretty good idea of that secret of hers.

“Yui-tan wanted to find Akiyama-tan’s injury, so she examined him from head-to-toe,” she announced, simply dropping the bandages to the floor. “And what do you think Yui-tan found? An itty-bitty bite, shaped like lies and deception!”

“Wait, you’re… saying you found one more injury, right?” Hayama blinked, pulling up the tablet to check the file again. “Natsume-kun could have just lied, but this doesn’t say anything about that.”

Something flashed in Fujinomiya’s eyes, and her hand shot up faster than a bullet, Takahashi flinching next to her.

“The- the file says wounds! It’s in plural!”

Everyone went silent for a few seconds, the only sound being Nakajima’s hand smacking his face.

“We are all fucking stupid.”

Right… They disregarded the wound because it was in the same place as the older one. They really should have read that over way, _way_ more carefully.

Hanamiya kind of wanted to facepalm himself.

But Komatsu wasn’t done yet.

“Yui-tan knows Natsume-tan’s rose is a poisonous one…” she leaned forward, resting her head on top of her hands, her arms propped up on top of her knees. And somehow, she was still keeping her balance. Maybe this should’ve been her real talent, whatever she was doing. “And Akiyama-tan got pricked by a thorn, and fell into a deep, deep sleep… Or at least his body did.”

Chiba opened and closed his mouth a few times before gesturing in her direction, massaging his temples with his free hand.

“Can anyone translate that into coherent speech?”

Minamoto, who’d been chewing on her fingernails until now, dropped her hands to hesitantly speak up.

“I think… she means Akiyama-kun got bitten by Natsume-kun’s snake. By poisonous…” she furrowed her brows, “I’ll assume she means it’s venomous. And based on that last part… Akiyama-kun got temporarily paralyzed.”

“Bingo!” Komatsu cheered, hopping back down to the floor and squishing the bandages with her flip flips. “Minamoto-tan got it right, Yui-tan is very happy!”

“…She could be lying,” Nakajima stated, but he was clearly leaning towards believing her.

“She did check the body,” Chiba confirmed it before they could ask, wearing an unpleasant expression at the memory of it. “And messed around with it quite a lot. Takahashi turned away when she started stripping off the clothes.”

That was entirely understandable.

“Okay, but what about the snake?”

“Well, Nakajima, if you’re so eager to question that…” Chiba leaned forward, giving Nakajima an exasperated look, “why don’t you test it out yourself and let the little girl bite you?”

Nakajima waved his hand in a dismissive manner, likely not even wanting to reward that with a response, but Kageyama raised his hand.

“I volunteer as a test subject.”

Normally Hanamiya would have closed his eyes to silently count to 10 and maybe take a couple of deep breaths, but all he did was turn his head in Kageyama’s direction and give him the flattest look imaginable.

“No.”

“No?” Kageyama echoed, and Hanamiya nodded his head. “Or is that a yes-“

“No means no, Kageyama-kun,” Hanamiya sighed, raising a brow at him. “You’re not going to do anything even _remotely_ dangerous, you’re not going to do any bets, no wagers, _nothing._ Need I remind you how that ended last time?”

Kageyama’s eyes widened, and he was speechless for a moment. Hanamiya knew he hadn’t forgotten - he’d simply gotten caught up in the flow, the temptation of doing something stupidly courageous overwhelming him for a moment. He was used to these things. It must have been an automatic response.

Still, that only meant that Hanamiya had to be all the more responsible and remind him each time.

He… probably shouldn’t have bothered. They didn’t like each other… or at least _he_ didn’t like Kageyama. He had no reason whatsoever to try to help him out. Was it because of their morning conversation perhaps…? Was he _really_ sensitive enough to be moved by something like that?

He shook his head subtly, snapping himself back to reality.

This wasn’t the time to be having an existential crisis.

“Getting the snake to bite him would be easier than drugging him,” Izumi’s gaze didn’t leave Natsume. “And he’d be the least suspicious of you if you wanted to lure him away, considering you were treating him. You’re the most likely person to be the culprit, Natsume-kun. You know that, don’t you?”

Natsume exhaled softly, before shaking his head in disbelief.

“Ahh, I was quite certain you would not figure it out…” he adjusted his glasses, head tilted slightly with the most uninterested expression he’s worn yet. “But I suppose I must have done a sloppy job if you caught on so fast. I will not struggle disgracefully when we have already gotten this far…”

He took his hat off, bowing his head slightly.

“I am indeed the one who killed Akiyama Keiji-kun. Congratulations for figuring me out.”

Hanamiya tried to swallow the heavy lump in his throat.

He knew he should’ve stayed away from Natsume after all.

“My baby and I have been together all her life… I felt it was my duty to protect her,” Natsume straightened up, the head of his snake poking out of his sleeve slowly, then gradually wrapping itself around his arm. “Not to mention… there is also the mystery of those files.”

“So you did find them…” Izumi sighed, and Natsume chuckled.

“After carefully searching the room, yes. But also… there is something you all are not aware of.”

Shironeko suddenly rose from his seat, looking rather nervous.

“Alright, I think we should get to the voting now-“

“Shut up,” Chiba shot him a dark glare, immediately getting him to quiet down - probably not even out of fear, just out of the dejection that came from being treated so poorly.

Serves him right.

Natsume tapped his chin slowly.

“On my way to the first floor I happened to overhear a very interesting conversation…”

* * *

 

_“Alright, you useless piece of cotton and- whatever the fuck your insides are made of, either you give me an explanation about those files, or I will snap you in half with my own two hands.”_

_Natsume came to a halt in front of the room with Shironeko’s nameplate on it, quickly hiding behind the opened door to try to figure out what was going on. Akiyama seemed to be by himself, holding up said stuffed animal… and completely lacking his composed behavior._

_“That’s- that’s against the rules, Akiyama-nyan!” Shironeko whined, flailing around to try to get him to drop him._

_“…You’re right, I won’t do that. I’ll just spin you around until you’re so dizzy you won’t be able to tell left from right.”_

_“Where has your gentle nature gone?” Shironeko sobbed out, Akiyama letting out an annoyed huff._

_“You’ve 10 seconds or I’ll start. And I’m warning you, this is pretty much the most I’m allowed when it comes to channeling my frustrations, so I won’t go easy on you.”_

_“Ahh, okay, okay, there’s no need for threats!” Shironeko squeaked out, but Akiyama didn’t put him down yet, only glaring at him in an accusatory manner._

_“Speak.”_

_Now,_ this _got Natsume even more interested. He’d been planning on searching the room himself, but maybe he’d be spared from the activity if he just… listened. It would certainly be more convenient._

_“Are we really Super High School Level students?” Akiyama demanded, shaking Shironeko slightly to get him to talk faster._

_“I know, I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, just stop-!”_

_Akiyama didn’t stop, though, so Shironeko was forced to continue._

_“Everything you read in those files was real, so-“_

_Akiyama’s shaking slowed._

_“So you’re saying we’re not.”_

_“…You’re not.”_

_He let out a deep sigh, completely ceasing torturing the stuffed animal for a while, obviously more distracted by the matter at hand than the revenge he’d been trying to enact._

_“So… are our memories of Hope’s Peak fake, then?”_

_“Yes.”_

_Oh? How very interesting… Natsume quietly pushed himself away from the wall, albeit still hidden from view, ready to disappear any second once the conversation ended._

_“What_ is _the truth, then? If we’re just normal students… why are we all here?”_

_“I can’t tell you that, Akiyama-nyan…” Shironeko shook his head. “But you’ll probably discover it sooner or later. Even if I’m on your side, I can’t give you all the answers… you must learn the hard way, after all.”_

_He finally managed to wiggle free from Akiyama’s gasp, bolting past Natsume without noticing him, Akiyama cursing quite angrily as he was left behind._

_It was rather unfortunate that that was all the information they were given… but Natsume had already gotten curious enough._

_Instead of running off, he stood completely still until Akiyama left the room as well, sneaking in by himself afterwards._

* * *

 

“As for everything else… you all were correct,” Natsume placed his hat back on, reaching for his walking stick.

“How do we know you’re not lying about this?” Chiba gripped his podium a little tighter than necessary.

“Come, now, Chiba-kun, I’m about to die,” Natsume reminded him, sounding oddly calm about the fact. “Do I really have a reason to lie?”

Hanamiya could list countless ones - wanting to mess with them, for one -, but judging by Shironeko’s panicked reaction, perhaps giving it careful thought wouldn’t hurt.

Even if Natsume wasn’t lying, the cat could have been.

“…Right. If that’s it, can we get to the voting already?” Izumi spoke, several students throwing surprised glances in his direction.

“S-shouldn’t we give Natsume-kun a bit more time…?” Fujinomiya stuttered out, but Izumi shook his head.

“He’s not like… Aragaki-san. He’s just a cold-blooded killer.”

 He averted his gaze, choosing to stare at the floor.

“He deserves no sympathy.”

Fujinomiya looked at Hanamiya next, perhaps expecting some support, but Hanamiya purposefully turned away as well.

As messed up as this was probably going to be… he felt himself agreeing with Izumi a little.

Even if this was all the fault of the mastermind…

Natsume was the one who chose to act.

And... it wasn't as hard to select him as Hanamiya thought it would be.

And  _of course_ they were correct.

“Done with your little pity party yet?” Kuroneko yawned, clearly bored out of her mind. Izumi simply nodded, and she proceeded to lift her scepter up rather high, before knocking on the floor with it once. “You can have this one, Shironeko… This isn’t nearly entertaining enough.”

Shironeko scoffed, but lifted one of his arms anyway, ready to start the punishment.

“We’ve prepared a very special punishment for Natsume Rintarou, the Super High School Level Herpetologist.”

Kuroneko hopped to her feet, her paws placed on her hips.

“At last, it’s punishment time!”

Shironeko’s paw slammed down onto the button on the armrest of his throne.

* * *

 

He appears to be inside of some kind of well… from what he can tell, at least. He touches the wall with one of his gloved hands, stroking the smooth surface. He can’t climb out of here, no matter how hard he tries.

He crouches down instead, trying to think. His snake slowly slithers out of his coat, and he gives her a sad smile. He’s not even sure if he can get her out of this. He should have left her behind while he had the chance, so at least she could be safe.

He feels something curling itself around his leg, not even wincing at the sudden piercing pain.

It’s a tiny snake, burying its fangs in his skin.

He kind of wants to pet it.

As he reaches out, another snake appears from seemingly out of nowhere - it takes him a moment to notice the small crack in the ground. This one bites down on his hand, and he almost wants to chuckle, finding it kind of cute. As more and more snakes appear, he gradually feels himself growing dizzy, and he rests his head against the wall. They must be of the venomous kind.

He doesn’t lose consciousness, though - instead, he feels the wall behind his head move a little. He can’t bring himself to move, and simply lies still as another crack appears in it. A snake pokes its head outside, staring at him for a few seconds before it begins wrapping itself around his neck.

Breathing gets harder and harder, and the adrenaline rush keeps him from passing out. _It hurts_ , but when he opens his mouth barely any sound comes out, so he can’t even scream.

The last sound he hears is a sickening _crack_.

* * *

**Survivors: 12**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aahhhahaha bye bye rin-chan you were fun to write for


	11. Shocking news

As Hanamiya lay in bed, completely motionless, he found it a little hard to fall asleep for a change. He raised his hand to stare at the bracelet circled around his right wrist, then dropped it back down almost immediately.

He never thought the so-called _special prizes_ would be anything good, but it wasn’t like he had a choice to accept them or not, since Kuroneko pretty much forced them on everybody. Nobody could really find a way to remove them, so most of them ended up shrugging it off for now, but Hanamiya found himself worrying over what kind of disaster these would end up causing.

The third floor was unlocked after Natsume had been executed - his walking stick had been left propped up against his podium, nobody wanting to touch it -, but this time around, some of them _really_ couldn’t find it in themselves to investigate.

Hayama had walked off by herself; she held it together remarkably well throughout the entirety of the trial, but as soon as Natsume confessed, she gradually seemed more and more distraught, until she was visibly on the brink of tears, staring off to the side with her hands clenched in fists.

She _did_ seem pretty close to Akiyama; Hanamiya really couldn’t blame her.

Chiba and Takahashi had each left for their rooms as well, possibly in greater need of a break than most of them, considering they spent more time around the body than everyone else. Hanamiya followed their example, deciding to check out the new areas the next day, needing some time to properly process everything by himself.

In just the span of these last few days he’d seen four people die already.

He _thought_ he’d gotten over Yokoyama and Aragaki already - he wasn’t particularly close to either, so why wouldn’t he be able to? -, but once Akiyama and Natsume had followed them, the events kept repeatedly flashing through his mind.

Maybe he should get some sleeping pills. Both the store and the infirmary should be open at nighttime.

He got up from his bed, rubbing his eyes in a rather annoyed manner before reaching for his glasses. Maybe… this would be the last murder. Maybe he could try to forget everything again. Akiyama’s body had vanished just like Yokoyama’s had before - _he_ wasn’t paying attention when the cats had explained it, just trying to get it out of his head for the time being -, so it might not be an impossible task…

At least, that’s what he told himself as he headed towards the store.

It didn’t take him long to find the pills he needed, and he stood on his tiptoes to reach the shelf he needed, almost toppling it over in the process. He decided to take the entire box with himself in case he needed more later - there were plenty more left, it should be fine -, sleepily stumbling back in the direction of his room.

Something happened to stop him on his way there, though, and when he crouched down to examine what it was properly, he froze, almost letting out a shriek.

Natsume’s snake tilted its head slightly as it stared back at him from the ground.

Okay, _okay_ , so this was happening apparently.

Hanamiya took a few steps back, clutching the box to his chest before reaching inside to grab a couple of pills, holding them up for the snake to see, but changed his mind about playing catch with the little lady and lowered his hand back down instead.

If he could just… move very slowly…

Carefully maneuvering around the snake, he opened his door, all the while keeping a careful watch on Natsume’s pet, then slamming the door as fast as possibly as soon as he stepped into the room. Breathing a sigh of relief, he practically collapsed on top of the mattress as he let out a sigh of relief.

He wasn’t going to deal with this in the middle of the night.

Once he took a pill, he lay back down into bed properly, wrapping the blanket around himself like some sort of cocoon and snuggling comfortably into the sheets, hoping to fall asleep soon.

The last thing he could remember from the night was wincing slightly as his hand twitched a little, almost as if he got shocked by touching an object charged with electricity…

…then falling asleep almost immediately, not having the energy to try to see what that had been about.

* * *

 

He woke up rather abruptly in the morning, someone outside banging on his door before the morning announcement had even begun. A voice in the back of his head told him that he might as well go back to sleep before he gets himself killed by letting in an unwelcome visitor, but it quickly became apparent that he wouldn’t be able to get any more rest unless he let the person in.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a panicked Fujinomiya, who practically fell into his arms as soon as he let her inside, squeaking out something about a snake.

Oh, yeah… _that_.

Hanamiya stuck his head outside to spot the snake in the exact same place he’d left it in yesterday, strangely enough. Apparently it didn’t feel like moving around too much.

He glanced around in the hallway to see who else was nearby. Izumi hadn’t started his daily round yet - not really a surprise, considering he’d waited for the announcement before -, and aside from Fujinomiya, it seemed like everyone else was still asleep. He was about to go back inside and hide until someone took care of it, before he saw Nakajima’s door creak open, the boy carefully peering outside.

Come to think of it… he’d never managed to catch him leaving his room. He must’ve been an early riser.

Nakajima spotted Hanamiya before the snake, and was about to leave his room anyway without paying him too much mind, but stopped moving right away as soon as he noticed the snake on the floor. Unfortunately for him, it was much closer to his door than Hanamiya’s, and it would’ve been pretty much impossible for him to leave without stepping right next to the snake unless he could somehow jump over it.

He stared at Hanamiya for a few seconds before his head disappeared yet again, and he shut the door without a single word.

* * *

 

“So… anybody got any ideas what we’re gonna do with this one?”

The snake had wrapped itself around Komatsu to everyone else’s relief - she didn’t seem to mind in the slightest, cheerfully petting it -, and they were currently gathered in the cafeteria, discussing where to go from here. They couldn’t have it just wandering around wherever it pleased, but not many of them seemed to be up for taking care of it, and Komatsu would probably let it run away if it wanted to.

They had investigated the newly unlocked floor earlier; Takahashi had to be dragged away from the concert hall, and Sakurauchi proved to be just as stubborn when it came to having to leave the arcade. Apart from those 2 rooms and the enormous storage rooms that were connected to the concert hall, there was also a cinema, as well as a planetarium, and… one last room with Kuroneko’s nameplate that they really weren’t sure what to make of.

Hanamiya had made a mental note to check to see if the cinema had anything he’d be interested in later.

“Do we even know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Kageyama squinted at the snake, Minamoto rolling her eyes in the back.

“As if that even matters…”

“Judging by how Natsume used to refer to it… a girl,” Chiba sighed, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. “What, you wanna be the one to keep it?”

“Well, I doubt anyone here wants to kill it…” Kageyama mused, leaning a little closer. “It doesn’t seem that aggressive, does it? I can’t recall it randomly attacking anyone.”

“If you wanna risk it biting you to pieces, be my guest,” Chiba shrugged, staring at him with an expression of obvious disapproval.

“Does it even have a name…?”

Come to think of it… Hanamiya couldn’t recall Natsume calling the snake by its name even once. Maybe it was because he had it hidden most of the time, but he couldn’t remember anyone else asking about it either.

Kageyama, on the other hand, seemed strangely excited to name it. He _had_ been the calmest when it came to approaching it apart from Komatsu, and he did seem like he found it… cute, somehow, so it wasn’t much of a surprise, and taking all of that into consideration, he _might_ be the best person to hand it to for safekeeping.

Kageyama carefully reached out to pet it, and the snake raised its head before slithering over onto his arm, crawling all the way over to his waist to circle around it.

Kageyama seemed oddly happy about it.

Having finished eating, Hanamiya stood up from his seat, giving everyone a quick bye as he walked off towards the second floor, paying no mind to Chiba who suddenly twitched a little in his chair, staring at his right hand with an accusatory glare afterwards.

Whatever he was doing there, Hanamiya wanted no part in it.

More importantly… the sleeping pills from yesterday did their job, and he wanted to see if he could find any painkillers in the infirmary. He checked the store on his way to breakfast, but it seemed the ones that had been stored in that room had already been taken by someone else.

As he walked up the stairs, he noticed someone else following him - he glanced over his shoulder to spot Komatsu leisurely skipping after him, and wanted to change directions already. She’d been setting off enough flags to assure him that she was dangerous to be hanging around.

He entered the infirmary, immediately looking around to see if he could find what he needed - and to his displeasure, Komatsu joined him in the activity, cheerfully humming some kind of song under her breath. She stood on her tiptoes as she checked each shelf very carefully, visibly perking up when she reached the one that Hanamiya assumed she’d been looking for. She took off a small box, opening it right away to pull out a small, red pill, then popped it into her mouth without hesitation.

 She slipped the box into her dress as she approached Hanamiya - she _must_ have had pockets inside of it, considering how many things he’d seen her store in there -, then tilted her head slightly as she examined him from head-to-toe.

“What’s Hanamiya-tan looking for?”

“Painkillers,” he replied simply, taking a step back to get her out of his personal space. He wasn’t even sure if asking would be a good idea, but… “What did you take?”

“Candy, of course,” she giggled, as though finding the question silly, spinning around once. “Yui-tan found it yesterday! The sweets she’d brought from home had run out, so she looked around to see if she could find something here instead.”

That… would explain a lot.

“If you want… candy, why don’t you look in the kitchen?” Hanamiya half-mumbled, having managed to find the pills he needed and removing them from the shelf. He hadn’t gotten too many severe headaches ever since he arrived here, but more dull ones weren’t exactly rare, and he’d have preferred to be rid of them if possible.

“Silly Hanamiya-tan, that won’t do!” Komatsu scolded him playfully. “The ones in the kitchen may be sweet, but they don’t give you pleasant dreams at night. And Yui-tan won’t be able to do her job properly if she can’t dream.”

Maybe he should let someone else handle this… He wasn’t sure if getting into any sort of argument with her - especially about this - would be a good idea.

“Maybe you should tell everyone else about your candy too,” he said slowly, taking a few steps towards the door. This wasn’t his problem; he could just let one of the more responsible ones take care of it. “Make sure to show them the box, okay?”

“Ehh?” Komatsu tilted her head, then nodded with a wide smile. “Sure, Yui-tan can do that! There’s plenty more left if they want some too.”

Hopefully nobody else would be stupid enough to accept the offer.

Stepping out into the hallway, Hanamiya bolted - which, according to his definition, was simply walking away as fast as possible, and avoiding jinxing himself by not checking behind his back.

* * *

 

Chiba had a pretty good idea where to find Hayama - and as he stepped inside the gym, he found her sitting on a bench, staring at the floor. Well… if she needed alone time, he could give her that, but before that he absolutely had to try to talk at the very least.

She raised her head as he approached her, and they stared at each other silently for several seconds before they both spoke up at the same time.

“I’m sorry.”

Chiba blinked.

“Wait, why are _you_ sorry?”

“For not talking to you properly…” Hayama reached up to play with her hair, dropping her hands down soon enough. “I should’ve at least heard you out.”

Chiba opened and closed his mouth several times before throwing his hands up in exasperation, unsure of where to even start. He did think his side would take a while to explain, but not like _this._

“Hayama,” he exhaled slowly, letting his arms hang by his sides. “I was just angrily venting because it was a sensitive point for me, alright? You were not… supposed to take that stuff seriously.”

Hayama puffed her cheeks out slightly, putting on that stern look Chiba had gotten used to all too well; he kind of felt like an unruly child being scolded by their mother, and the feeling caused the knots in his stomach to tighten even more. He knew he couldn’t stand being talked down to, he _knew_ he’d just mutter to himself about it later, but nevertheless… he wanted to try.

“All you did was tell me how you felt,” Hayama argued stubbornly, crossing her arms. “I was just acting defensive because it was the easier option to take. I know you were at least partially right. Although… your phrasing could probably use some work, I admit.”

Chiba closed his eyes for a few seconds, the conversation he’d rehearsed so many times in his head seemingly becoming more and more irrelevant. Maybe… he was being too stubborn again. He certainly seemed to be guilty of that awfully often these days.

“…You’re just saying that because that’s what you’ve been doing,” Chiba sighed, gesturing for her to stop as soon as she opened her mouth to interrupt. “Look, as much as I might not look like it… I’m a guy. I have pride, and I hate being treated as a child.”

He leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets.

“You were right about me being just some… sheltered rich kid, and I _hate_ that you were. It’s the one thing that pisses me off more than anything else. People who look down on everyone else around them… I hate guys like that.”

He tilted his head slightly to stare up at the ceiling. There was _something_ he hadn’t told anyone else here yet, but he didn’t even have to ask himself if he should. He wanted to be different from _those people_ , and he had to throw away that worthless arrogance of his for that. If it meant having to remember his past, so be it.

He took a deep breath.

“My parents… they were the kind of people who’d put family name above all else. They wanted me to be the perfect child that they could brag about, that would exceed all their expectations and grow up to be the ideal successor.”

He combed his fingers through his hair, grimacing slightly.

“As a kid… I had nothing. No friends, no toys, nothing that could distract me. I wasn’t… allowed to express myself, let alone act out, but more than that… it felt like I was just a decoration to them. Just another achievement to add to the list, you know? And after a while… I’ve had enough. I ran away from home, changed my name, and… pretty much did whatever I wanted to make up for all the years that had been taken from me, cliché as that sounds.”

Hayama listened intently the entire time he talked; she could probably put together the rest by herself, or at least Chiba wanted to believe that she could. Spilling his life story was already embarrassing enough without being asked too many questions about it afterwards. Because, in the end… as much as he wanted to be a man, he really couldn’t have been further from it. Being tough was one thing, being a narrow-minded, stubborn jackass was another.

Hayama took her time replying.

“That is… quite the story,” she remarked, tilting her head slightly.

Chiba could already feel his cheeks heating up - bonding wasn’t supposed to be like this, _you were supposed to be loud and blunt and shout your emotions out-_

“Thanks for telling me,” Hayama grinned, holding her hand out for a handshake. “Should I make my own confession in exchange?”

Chiba swallowed down his embarrassment as he accepted the hand, pulling her to her feet in the process. The fact that she was taller than him wasn’t exactly helping him feel less awkward, but then again, almost everyone here was.

“If you want to,” he drew his hand back to hook his thumb in his pocket, taking up a more relaxed posture this time around. “Not like I can stop you if you wanna.”

Hayama playfully elbowed him before her smile shifted into a smaller, but more genuine one.

“I had a talk with Hanamiya-kun a while back, which made me think about some things, I guess. I- I really wanna be friends with you, Chiba-kun,” she fidgeted with her hands slightly, doing her best to find the right words for this. “But also… I don’t think it’d be a good idea for either of us to have to force ourselves to act a certain way.”

She grasped both his hands again suddenly, her eyes sparkling with determination.

“But I think it can work if we both compromise on certain things. You can tell me when I’m out of line, and I’ll do the same for you. How’s that sound?”

Chiba blinked a few times, ever so slightly overwhelmed by such an enthusiastic response. She probably did need someone to talk to to get her mind off Akiyama as well, and it wasn’t like he disliked her per se, so he didn’t exactly have a reason to say no… he supposed he was just expecting the discussion to be a lot more one-sided.

He slowly nodded.

“I want everyone here to be on equal ground, so… I guess I’ll bear with it if it comes at the cost of being scolded every once in a while.”

“Don’t be like that,” Hayama pinched his cheek lightly, and he swatted her hand away with an annoyed expression. “The point of this is to treat each other equally, like you said. It’ll just be friendly advice.”

“Right, _mom_ ,” Chiba rolled his eyes, not sounding quite as grumpy as he was trying to make himself seem. “Now that that’s out of the way… are you in the mood for some bonding in the guy way?”

He took a step back, making a broad gesture towards all the exercise equipment.

“You say that like girls don’t like exercise,” Hayama laughed softly before nodding her head.

* * *

 

Izumi really wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. It seemed as though everyone else had already paired up or just straight up didn’t want to be bothered, and insisting that they hang out with him wouldn’t help them become friends faster. Which… was kind of surprising, really. He thought he’d be a lot better at getting along with other people, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Was he just boring to talk to…?

He tried to recall if he’d seen anyone else by themselves who could be approachable, before he finally perked up, heading towards the arcade. He saw Fujinomiya with Kageyama earlier, so Sakurauchi should be free to approach. She was one of the most outgoing people here as well, and pretty easy to talk to; what could go wrong?

As he thought, he did indeed find her in there. She seemed to be leaning against the wall, breathing a little heavily after having finished some kind of rhythm game. But never mind that, the game wasn’t important! He leaned against the wall leisurely, waiting for her to notice him first.

Once she did, she cheerfully waved at him. Good. He’d have hated to catch her while she was in a bad mood… not that he had seen her like that before. He pushed himself away from the wall, returning the greeting in a relaxed manner.

Some of the others seemed to be quite fond of using their talents as conversation starters or topics… he was kind of envious that he couldn’t do that.

“What are you up to by yourself?”

He glanced around in the room casually to see if anything else would catch his eye. Of course, that wasn’t a serious question; it couldn’t be more obvious what she was doing. But making small talk was an essential part of everyday conversations, wasn’t it?

“Ah, just checking out the place,” Sakurauchi grinned, stretching her back slightly with a satisfied sigh. “I didn’t think we’d have a place like this on the ship… it’s pretty cool, you know! It’s rare to find an arcade _this_ well-equipped.”

Well, that was natural. There wasn’t a single room on the ship that wasn’t on par with the rest in terms of quality. Nevertheless, Sakurauchi was still quite upbeat about the fact.

“I’m thinking of bringing Fujinomiya-san here later!” she rambled on and on, her hands clasped together delightfully. “It might also be fun if we were to hold an event of some kind together… but I guess some people might prefer to be left out from that.”

“Ahh, you might be right…” Izumi sighed. “It’s a little concerning, if you ask me.”

“Is it?” Sakurauchi blinked, wearing a clueless, but curious smile. She tilted her head slightly, balancing on her heels. “I think it’s fine if they’d prefer to hang out in smaller groups… or by themselves. If they don’t like crowds, it can’t be helped.”

He’d thought from the start that she was much, much too tolerant of these things - and his opinion hadn’t changed. He placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head with a tired expression.

“That might be true… but in our current situation, I think it would be much better if everyone stuck together,” he argued, mumbling a little. He couldn’t deny that the lack of cooperation on the part of certain people was rather troublesome. ”We’ll hardly we able to find a way out if we can’t even work as a team.”

Sakurauchi tapped her chin, making a low, drawn-out humming sound, seemingly thinking it over.

“I suppose that’s fair…”

“Of course it is,” Izumi reaffirmed his statement, letting his arms drop to his sides afterwards with a small sigh.

He knew it might have been too much to ask for after everything that’s happened, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He’d been trying his best to give everyone else time, but as things stood… it might just be better if he took up the leader role seriously. He couldn’t afford to let the time run out.

Speaking of which…

He recalled Yokoyama opening up and confiding in him, and couldn’t help feeling just a little more discouraged. They’d barely known each other back then, and yet…

No, he had to focus on the present. Regretting the past would be a waste of time, he knew that all too well.

But… if he could get the others to trust him the same way…

“On that note…” Izumi finally broke the silence, leaving Sakurauchi staring back at him curiously. “If there’s something on your mind, you can come to me anytime, okay? I’d like you all to rely on me a bit more, actually, if possible.”

Sakurauchi cracked a slightly wider smile this time.

“For the sake of the group, right?”

Interlacing her fingers behind her back, she nodded without hesitation.

“I have… a pretty good handle on my problems currently, I think. But if I ever need any help, I’ll be sure to come to you, Izumi-san,” she beamed, looking quite happy about the offer. “For now, though… I’ll be fine.”

Izumi hummed.

“If you say so…”

It was a little disappointing, but he could wait. More importantly, something else had been on his mind for a while now… He cleared his throat to catch her attention.

“By the way… those eyes suit you a lot more.”

* * *

 

Kageyama tilted his head as Fujinomiya fidgeted in front of him, looking like she wanted to ask him something but was too shy to do so. Natsume’s snake - whom he decided to name Scaly -, was circled around his waist just like it had been all day long, barely moving, comfortable with its current position. He didn’t mind it all too much - once he got used to it, the snake was actually pretty cute.

“Uhm… Kageyama-kun, could you do me a favor…?” Fujinomiya blurted out finally, nervously reaching up to adjust her glasses.

Kageyama visibly perked up; he’d never really been one to turn down requests before, but he’d been especially wanting to assist the others lately, hoping to at least gain a bit of their favor back. They were probably still upset at him even if they weren’t showing it - who was he kidding? They most definitely were. Why wouldn’t they be, after something like that?

He had faith that he could make up for it, though. Subtly touching the wristband around his hand, he nodded.

“Sure, shoot me.”

He crossed his legs, patiently waiting for her to continue as she fumbled with her words.

“I was, uhm…” Fujinomiya swallowed anxiously, fiddling with the hem of her jacket next. “I was kind of wondering if… y-you could teach me some conversational skills.”

Oh…? Not quite the type of favor he’d been expecting. Not that it was especially bothersome or anything, but he did have to wonder why she picked him of all people to ask for help. He _did_ find it pretty easy to get along with others, but he knew from experience that it was mostly due to his laidback nature. Which… might not have been the best trait to have for this kind of situation.

“I’m not sure if I’m the best person for this, but, I mean… I can try,” he let out a small, albeit somewhat nervous laugh to try to disperse the tension a little, reaching towards the snake to start petting it for comfort. Fujinomiya shook her head rather fast.

“D-don’t be like that, I’m sure any advice you could give me would be helpful…!” she insisted, her voice shaking a little.

Well, it was pretty obvious that she was bad at dealing with people, so maybe she just picked someone who was better than her at these sorts of things.

She quickly continued, though.

“B-because… you’re always so confident and relaxed when talking to people…” she let out a tiny sigh, her head hanging a little low. “Meanwhile I can barely hold a conversation…”

Confident and relaxed, huh? That might’ve been at least somewhat accurate, but… he wasn’t sure if the first part was all that true anymore. He couldn’t stop himself from occasionally slipping back into his old habits, but as soon as he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be doing those things anymore, he couldn’t help feeling even more dejected.

Did he even have a talent anymore…?

“Say, Fujinomiya,” he focused on her to distract himself, comfortably leaning back in his seat. “What kind of things do you like?”

“Things…?” Fujinomiya echoed, clearly confused by his phrasing. Kageyama rubbed his chin thoughtfully before clarifying.

“Apart from your talent, what kind of things are you interested in? What hobbies do you have?”

She didn’t even hesitate with her response, almost startling Kageyama with her sudden outburst.

“I- I like birds!”

Her eyes seemed to sparkle behind her glasses as she flailed her hands in excitement slightly, and Kageyama couldn’t help a small chuckle - and she wasn’t even done yet.

“I r-really like birds, especially crows…! They have one of the largest brains compared to their size out of all birds, actually,” Fujinomiya rambled on, barely leaving any openings for Kageyama to interrupt. “They have a really good memory, and they can also sing really well. They’re also very loyal and mating crows will often stay together for years, or sometimes for their whole lives!”

As soon as she realised how much she’d been talking, she went silent and covered her mouth, her face growing more and more red bit by bit. Seeing her gush about something so happily was certainly a welcome change, and when coupled with her awkward behavior, Kageyama felt a lot more relaxed himself. He hadn’t picked up on it before, but she _was_ kind of cute.

“A-ahh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“Relax,” he grinned lightly, clearly entertained by her mannerisms. “That _is_ pretty much the effect I was hoping for.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“Huh…?”

“You loosened up, didn’t you?” with a playful wink, Kageyama flicked his hat. “That’s pretty much all it takes. Just find something you enjoy talking about, and your nerves will be gone.”

Fujinomiya seemed a little bewildered as she averted her gaze shyly, but just as she was about to respond, she suddenly let out a small squeak. Kageyama raised a brow, ready to ask her if she was alright, but all she did was lift her right hand and stare at her wrist with a concerned expression.

“Something just shocked me…”

* * *

 

By the time dinner arrived, Hanamiya had successfully taken a detour towards the cinema. And boy, was he not disappointed. He felt himself get excited for pretty much the first time since they were trapped here, already making a mental list of movies to watch. He’d have preferred anime, if he had to be honest, but live-action was up there too - and there were _so_ many of them! He even briefly considered inviting someone else, hoping to watch a film together and chat about it afterwards. Even Sakurauchi would have been fine, as much of a chatterbox as she could be - if anything, that’d be an advantage in this situation.

Unfortunately… sleep was more important than that at the moment. Hanamiya knew he wouldn’t be able to stay up for much longer, as much as he wanted to, having already almost fallen asleep several times during the meal. The chattering of people around him really wasn’t helping, but at least it was a welcome change from the awkward silences before. As annoyed as he was by the noise, a tense atmosphere was much more troublesome.

The one thing that caught his eye was Hayama staying much further away from Kageyama… most likely because of the snake he had around him. It did belong to Natsume originally, so Hanamiya was sure nobody was going to call her out for it.

As he listened, though, he picked up on something quite peculiar.

Apparently multiple people throughout the day had been experiencing smaller shocks at random intervals. Was something strange going on, perhaps? From what he could hear… all of the shocks had come from the person’s right hand; he glanced down at his own, touching the bracelet that they’d been given the previous day, and recalled the night’s events. He wasn’t sure if he could call it a shock… but he did indeed feel something at one point.

It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out the bracelets were the culprit for these occurrences.

Why, though…? Was it the material they were made of… or was it something else…?

His question was answered when Kuroneko suddenly dropped from the ceiling, causing Fujinomiya to shriek while attempting to cover her ears and eyes at the same time, almost tipping her chair over as she pushed it back to get away from the stuffed animal. She seemed to have been the one Kuroneko had landed the closest to.

“What’s this, what’s this? Have you been wondering about the newest motive, maybe?” Kuroneko cackled, doing a little victory dance. As Hanamiya thought… this won’t be anything good.

“What do you mean by… newest motive?” Takahashi shrunk slightly, clearly worried about what Kuroneko was going to reply. She, on the other hand, leaned closer to the boy, wearing a sinister grin, eager to explain.

“I meant exactly what I said. This is the new motive!” she placed her hands on her hips, taking up a smug pose as she resumed talking. “One of you is going to receive a shock at random intervals - and of course, the person picked will also be random! But the twist” her visible eye glowing, she threw her arms up, raising her voice, “is that the shock will be more powerful each time! This will be a lot more thrilling than the last motive, I promise!”

This… would definitely be more stressful to deal with. They really wouldn’t be able to catch a break here, would they? Unless they can somehow remove the bracelets, they’ll be forced to continue playing this game sooner or later… After all, even Hanamiya knew that a powerful enough shock could potentially kill a person.

He didn’t even have time to wonder if the same person could get electrocuted twice - before he could even blink, he felt a hot, stinging sensation around his right hand, wincing in pain as he twitched involuntarily. The shock didn’t last for very long, but the strange feeling remained in his hand afterwards, and he clutched it to his chest uncomfortably, biting his lip a little too hard.

They had to find a way out, and _fast._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres a map to the third floor! :0 http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/post/162561534886  
> this chapter was gonna have a lot more bonding but it wouldve been too long so i had to leave some charas for the next one ;0


	12. Thievery and secrets

By the time morning arrived, Hanamiya had managed to get a decent amount of sleep thanks to the pills he’d taken - and he didn’t have too hard of a time taking his mind off the previous day’s worries, used to not having to confront his own problems. In the back of his mind, he just _knew_ it wouldn’t be okay, but since he couldn’t do anything about it himself for the time being, he’d concluded that there was no use in worrying about it.

Something he _did_ have to worry about, on the other hand, was being more careful with his words next time around shady drug addicts.

As soon as he stepped into the cafeteria, he froze, his brain having to take multiple seconds to register what he was seeing.

Komatsu didn’t look especially strong - she was agile and clearly had a great sense of balance -, but Hayama wasn’t either, and apparently when things got desperate, Komatsu proved to be more fierce. Having pinned the girl to the ground and sitting on top of her to keep her down, Komatsu’s arm dug into Hayama’s throat, seemingly intending to choke her out.

“Give… give Yui-tan’s candy back…”

Her voice lacked the same childish cheer it was so full of before, and her hair was even messier than usual, resembling a bird’s nest. Before she could do any serious damage, though, Chiba forcibly dragged her off Hayama, slamming her against the floor and twisting one of her arms behind her back, looking positively furious.

Hayama coughed - a _lot_ , in that raspy voice that was so unpleasant to the ears -, and as Chiba seemed to be busy holding himself back from simply snapping Komatsu’s arm off, Hanamiya took it upon himself to approach her to see if she was alright.

Not many other people were around - considering the fact that despite Izumi coming to see him, it still took Hanamiya a pretty good amount of time to roll out of bed, he wasn’t surprised. Apart from the aforementioned 3, Nakajima was sitting in his usual corner seat, and Tsutsui joined Hanamiya in confirming Hayama’s state while Izumi tried his best to keep Chiba relatively calm.

“I’m okay…” Hayama managed, flashing a weak smile as she tried to stand, still coughing a little. Tsutsui let her borrow her shoulder.

“What happened, anyway…?” Hanamiya turned his head towards Komatsu again, brows slightly furrowed. “I just got here.”

“I didn’t see much of it…” Tsutsui admitted, her typing a lot slower when she could only use one of her hands. “I heard Chiba-chan shouting, and by the time I looked this way, Komatsu-chan was already on top of her…”

She helped Hayama to a seat, letting her drink some water to try to soothe her throat once she managed to catch her breath.

“I’ve no idea what happened there either…” Hayama clutched her glass tightly, the tips of her fingers turning white. “She kept going around asking people if they’d seen her candy… Then I suggested that she eats less sugar, and she just jumped at me.”

Oh, dear.

Hanamiya’s attention shifted towards the other 3 yet again as Izumi raised his voice.

“Chiba-kun, I _know_ you’re angry, but you might break her arm if you don’t let go…!”

Komatsu let out a pained yelp as Chiba’s grip only tightened, clearly unwilling to let go of her just yet after what happened.

“As soon as I get off, this _bitch_ is just going to do it all over again…” he hissed, stubbornly holding on. Hanamiya couldn’t recall seeing him this mad at anyone apart from the cats. “I _knew_ there was something wrong with her from the start, I could just tell…!”

“This isn’t a question of getting to prove a point or not, you need to control yourself before you do something you’ll regret afterwards!”

Izumi grabbed onto his arm, trying to pull him off of her that way, and Chiba did indeed let go at that point - only to turn around and grab him by his collar, shaking him as he continued yelling.

“She pretty much tried to kill someone, Izumi, and you’d rather let her try again than keep her in her place!”

As Komatsu attempted to get up again, Chiba landed a swift kick on her side, causing her to wince and curl up into a ball, groaning, cradling her arm to her chest. Well, on the bright side… at least she seemed occupied for now.

Izumi was clearly upset that Chiba was going so far, but the shorter boy persisted, not letting go of his clothes.

“You were happy to send off Natsume, but when someone else is doing the same thing it’s not a crime in your eyes until they go all the way, huh!? You’re a fucking hypocritical idiot,” he shoved him backwards roughly, his hands clenched into fists as he grit his teeth.

Izumi stared at him with his lips pursed for several seconds before he spoke up again.

“You might think that you know everything about everyone you meet, Chiba-kun, but you’re wrong.”

His tone was eerily calm, and he took a step forward, staring Chiba straight in the eyes.

“Do you know what the difference between that situation and this situation is?”

He crossed his arms, head tilted sharply.

“Natsume-kun’s actions were calm and calculated. He _meant_ to kill someone for his own benefit. Komatsu-san…” he glanced at the girl, expression shifting to a more bitter one, “she might not even be aware of what she’s doing. She’s as much of a victim here as Hayama-san. If she _had_ been consuming those things on a regular basis… who knows how much she’d been messed up by them.”

Chiba’s anger had begun to fade, tone more incredulous than upset at this point.

“You’re defending a junkie.”

“You don’t know for sure if it was her fault.”

The pair glared at each other for several seconds, less out of malice and more so trying to figure out what the other person was thinking, until the silence was interrupted by Hayama as she placed her now empty glass back onto the table.

“Chiba-kun, please calm down.”

She wasn’t looking him in the eye, and it told Hanamiya everything he needed to know.

She probably wanted Chiba to go all the way - she was the one who’d almost gotten strangled, after all -, but she was trying her best to be rational. Chiba was, simply put, an idiot, though, so he probably wouldn’t get that so easily.

If it had been up to Hanamiya, he’d have most likely just let him do his things.

Chiba opened his mouth, looking like he very much wanted to retort, but Hayama stood up to look at him properly.

“You can’t just solve everything with violence. I’m… I’m sure there’s a better way.”

Before Chiba could reply to that, though, Komatsu finally managed to get up - bypassing him just as he’d let his guard down, leaving him frozen in shock for a second. The second was enough for her to avoid being grabbed by him for the second time, but before she could even touch Hayama, Tsutsui stood between them, holding out her arms to show that she wasn’t letting her past. Izumi held onto Chiba’s arm tightly to try to hold him back, and while that by itself wasn’t doing much, the latter didn’t move just yet, readying himself in case he needed to.

“Did Tsutsui-tan take Yui-tan’s candy…?” Komatsu addressed her this time, not bothering to storm past her. Tsutsui cautiously drew her hands back, starting to type.

“I didn’t do anything… and I’m sure Hayama-chan didn’t either.”

Komatsu shook her head.

“Tsutsui-tan must be lying… Yui-tan can’t find it anywhere.”

“Even if you don’t believe me, I’m not letting you past me,” Tsutsui persisted - although her dress was obscuring most of it, it seemed like her legs were shaking a little. “So unless you want Chiba-chan to hurt you again… don’t come any closer.”

Komatsu didn’t seem like she was going to follow any of that, and Hanamiya placed a hand on Tsutsui’s shoulder to get her to back down so they could let Chiba handle this, but to everyone’s surprise, Nakajima was the next one to speak.

“I took it, actually. So you can leave those guys be.”

He continued without giving her enough time to even properly react, leisurely crossing his arms in his seat - Hanamiya could’ve sworn they were trembling before he held them down.

“Ah, you’ll get them back on one condition, though.”

Komatsu tilted her head.

“Really…?”

Nakajima nodded.

“Really.”

“What does Yui-tan need to do to get it back, then?”

She took a step towards him, eager to know, and Nakajima glanced towards the door.

“How about… I’ll give you your candy back if you can get the black cat’s room open. That should be easy enough, right?”

“Get the door open…” Komatsu mumbled, either simply considering it or having already accepted it and just trying to memorize her task. Judging by her next response, it was most likely the latter. “Yes, Yui-tan can do that. Nakajima-tan will give her back her candy then, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Nakajima confirmed it for her, not taking his eyes off her for even a second. Komatsu hesitantly nodded, and headed towards the door without another word.

As the door closed behind her, Nakajima immediately deflated, looking like he just escaped a near death experience. He may actually have, taking what Komatsu did earlier into consideration.

“I’m never covering for you guys again…” he clutched his hand to his chest for several seconds, as though feeling his own heartbeat, then let his head drop onto the table he’d been sitting at. “If you guys need me later, I’ll be in my room… with the door locked.”

“Wait, so… you didn’t take it?” Chiba blinked, and Nakajima rolled his eyes.

“Why would I do that? I wouldn’t want her coming after me, idiot.”

Chiba didn’t even look offended by the insult, most likely too confused by the situation to even bother with it right now.

“So why did you say that, then…?”

“You’re missing the important point…” Hanamiya tapped his chin, glancing around in the room. “I know I didn’t take it, and I’m going to assume since none of you stepped up when Komatsu-san was ready to rip Hayama-san in half, whoever did it isn’t here. We should ask the others if they know anything, because if she doesn’t get it back… we’ll probably be in trouble.”

In bigger trouble than they were right now, at least.

“Can’t she just take more from the medicine cabinet?” Chiba placed his hands on his hips, frowning. “I don’t get why she didn’t just do that instead of straight up attacking someone.”

“Why, that’s a really easy question, Chiba-nyan!”

None of them let out any startled shrieks when Shironeko appeared - Hanamiya thanked the heavens that his ears were finally spared -, although they did all glare at him in unison as soon as he was spotted, causing him to shrink a little.

“What’s wrong, everyone?”

“How about you explain yourself?” Chiba clicked his tongue, looking like he very much would have enjoyed kicking the stuffed toy into the wall. Shironeko proudly straightened his back, puffing his chest out.

“The medicine stocked here is really expensive, you know, so we can’t have you kids using it for the wrong reasons… which is why I went ahead and personally locked every cabinet!”

Good thing Hanamiya took the entire box when he did.

“From now on, they’ll remain locked until Komatsu-nyan either stops abusing them, or… gets eliminated,” Shironeko covered his mouth with his paw as he snickered. “Oh, but don’t get me wrong, I didn’t confiscate the pills she’d already taken. That was one of you children.”

Right… so unless he wanted to get ambushed in the hallway, or investigate Nakajima’s corpse once Komatsu is done with him, they had to go find out who had the bright idea of stealing the pills of a junkie.

This day was already looking to be terribly long.

* * *

 

Once the cafeteria had gone empty save for Tsutsui and Nakajima, she stared at him curiously, but remained in her seat.

“Nakajima-chan… why did you tell that to Komatsu-chan?”

“We need the door open, don’t we?” he leaned back in his seat with a sigh, clicking his pen repeatedly. “I doubt the black cat will let us do it as easily as the white one… He’s probably just trying to gain our trust or something. And doing a really shitty job at it, might I add.”

Shironeko kept telling them that he was on their side… which, in his twisted little plushie mind, he might have been, but Nakajima had no doubts that they couldn’t trust him regardless. And they _needed_ more clues, they didn’t have nearly enough. He hated not being fully aware of the situation.

“It’s still not like you, though…”

Tsutsui’s gaze didn’t seem like it was going to leave him anytime soon.

His first instinct would’ve been to respond with some kind of defensive retort - _I just can’t stand stupidity_ or something along those lines. The others clearly didn’t seem like they were going to think of anything, so he figured he might as well go for it - saying that would be so simple. But Tsutsui could probably see through that. He was a really bad liar.

In the end, he ended up turning the accusation around.

“It’s not like you either. To do something like that so suddenly…”

He’d prided himself on his people reading skills up until now, so doubting his judgment was a rare occurrence… but Tsutsui was a rare kind of person herself. He couldn’t exactly use her tone of voice or expression… so her body language was pretty much the only thing he could deduce anything from. And even then, that wasn’t much help most of the time.

Tsutsui fidgeted a little.

“I just didn’t want Hayama-chan to get even more hurt is all. Is that strange…?”

Compared to the contradictory vibes she’d been giving off… yes, that was strange.

“I _think_ ,” Nakajima crossed his arms as he examined her quickly, “you’re just too shy to be upfront about these things.”

Not that he was really one to speak… but the fact that she didn’t want to admit to being almost foolishly caring was a little funny. She didn’t seem like she agreed, already starting to type on her phone to object, before her hand twitched and she let out a small yelp. Nakajima raised a brow.

So she did have a voice after all.

She rubbed her wrist for several seconds, wincing a little at the leftover tingling sensation - Nakajima fortunately hadn’t gotten to experience the shock himself, but he had gotten… rather closely acquaintanted with electric fences before.

Avoiding people while trying to buy food was such a pain.

 “Say… why don’t you talk normally if you do have a voice?”

Tsutsui shyly averted her gaze, brushing some hair behind her ear only for it to come loose again. For a moment, Nakajima wondered if she would even give an answer - he wasn’t going to persist if she didn’t want to; he had about a billion better things to do than try to pry into someone else’s business.

In the end, she raised her phone.

“I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

Tsutsui paused.

“I’m scared to talk.”

If he had to be honest, out of all the ridiculous fears he’d heard of… this one was far from the worst.

When he stayed silent for a few more seconds than necessary, Tsutsui tilted her head slightly.

“Aren’t you going to comment on it…?”

Nakajima let out a dry laugh.

“Do you want me to?”

“Not especially, no…”

A couple more seconds passed, and Nakajima cleared his throat.

“It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen.”

_Did you know? I’m scared of being touched._

Yeah, he wasn’t going to say that. That was one step further from just being scared to speak up, and if possible, he’d have preferred to keep the rest of his dignity. That is, if he hadn’t already been obvious enough about it…

He kind of had a feeling he’d given himself away a few times.

He stood up from his seat.

“Time to barricade my room before that girl comes after me.”

* * *

 

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Kinda.”

The sight of the projected night sky was certainly enough to calm Chiba down somewhat as he lay on his back to stare up at the ceiling, although he still couldn’t help but feel frustrated about the morning. He _knew_ he was in the wrong here, but somehow that even made it worse.

Perhaps it was the fact that Hayama was visibly forcing herself to agree with Izumi.

He wasn’t even upset about being scolded - he lost his temper, he had it coming. The part that had him legitimately mad… was that it was his only option, and it still wasn’t the right thing to do apparently. This helpless feeling of being bound by rules yet again… he knew it all too well.

“Is your throat better?”

“Yeah…”

He wasn’t even sure if he was mad at Izumi or Hayama. The mature way to handle a situation like that… It completely went against his own sense of right or wrong.

At school, it was so much easier. If you see someone bullying someone else in public, nobody will bat an eye if you resort to violence. All you have to do is avoid the teachers, and you’re pretty much golden; the goody two shoe students won’t snitch on you. They know you’re doing them a favor as well.

Was it wrong to think like that? Or… was this entire mindset of right and wrong doomed to fail from the get go? If everyone had a different sense of what could be considered fair and not… there wasn’t much use in trying to match up yours with everyone else’s around you.

Chiba raised his hand, as though trying to touch the ceiling.

“Do you like stars?”

Hayama hummed at the question.

“Yeah. You don’t get to see much of them in the city, though. The lights are too bright,” she sighed, mimicking Chiba’s hand’s movements. “You know… I like sports and all, but stargazing is a lot nicer.”

It _was_ quite soothing, if nothing else.

“That’s kinda funny with your talent and all…” he cracked a crooked smile, amused by the idea. “Why didn’t you go for that instead of volleyball?”

The reply was a little vague, but it was more than enough for Chiba to understand.

“You know how it is with strict parents…” Hayama dropped her hand, tucking it underneath her head instead to use as a pillow. “I’m way better at athletic stuff than studying, and my parents wanted a boy to begin with anyway… so that’s what I ended up with.”

She laughed softly.

“Not that I hate it or anything, though, like I said. Volleyball’s pretty fun, and I like being in shape.”

She was pretty lucky that she ended up with something she enjoyed in the end.

“You’re a lot more girly than you seem, huh?” Chiba rolled over on his side to give her a teasing glance, and she rolled her eyes playfully.

“I figured I should share a secret with you since you did the same for me yesterday.”

She shifted around until she was lying on her stomach, her arms comfortably folded up underneath her chin.

“You’ll keep it, won’t you, Chiba-kun? If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone that you’re actually a rich kid,” she beamed, her tone making it obvious that she was joking around. Chiba let out an annoyed huff; he couldn’t even really see what was so embarrassing about something like that in the first place, but then again, most people probably wouldn’t get him either.

“ _Used to be_ ,” he corrected her, agreeing to it anyway. “But yeah, I’ll keep it. You better keep that stuff to yourself too.”

Hayama giggled.

* * *

 

Minamoto wasn’t even sure why she let herself be dragged along - she wasn’t absolutely terrible at videogames, but the ones they had around weren’t exactly the kind she was interested in. From what she could tell… the ones missing were Tsutsui, Nakajima, Hayama, Chiba and Komatsu - apparently Izumi had managed to convince everyone else to go with him.

Apparently it was some team bonding thing - Minamoto wasn’t sure, and she really didn’t care to properly listen. She felt way too nervous around so many people, and she knew she’d let either a playful insult - that sounded much too serious to pass off as a joke -, or just a straight up inappropriate statement slip. It wasn’t her fault; she was trying, really! She’d just gotten so used to playing it cool to avoid embarrassment that it was almost impossible to converse with someone normally without making herself seem unnaturally arrogant.

At least Takahashi was around… She’d come by to talk to him every once in a while, and it did help ease her nerves a bit - which, in turn, reduced the number of ridiculous comments she’d blurt out other times. She had to wonder if the others found it strange for a girl to be going out of her way to visit a guy so much, but then again… they didn’t seem to be paying that much attention. Maybe they just couldn’t care less.

Fortunately, though, the arcade was pretty big, and everyone had spread out enough for the smaller groups to be able to breathe a bit more. Running up to Takahashi like some sort of puppy seeking affection, she tilted her head as she watched him carefully take a few steps back as though trying to sneak away. He froze up when he bumped into Minamoto by accident, and whizzed around faster than a bullet, eyes wide.

“I- I was just going to-“

“You wanna go back to the concert hall, right?”

Takahashi blinked as Minamoto interrupted, then he hesitantly nodded, his expression one of guilt and shame. He didn’t seem like the type to be opposed to social outings - he was just probably looking forward to getting to practice his talent again. The concert hall had been the only room so far that had any kind of instruments so far after all.

Minamoto grabbed a hold of his sleeve, already dragging him away. Surely, the others wouldn’t mind. They most likely wouldn’t even notice anything, yeah!

Takahashi didn’t even object as she led him to the room she mentioned - of course he wouldn’t, he was heading there himself. She closed the door behind them once they entered, leaning against it with a deep sigh.

“Alright, that’s over and done with.”

Takahashi tilted his head slightly as he examined her curiously.

“Did you follow me so you could listen to me play?”

There was that too, of course, so she wasn’t going to deny it.

“Yep,” she nodded, stepping away from the door. “But also… it’s hard to focus when there are so many people around. I might end up saying something stupid by accident.”

She let out a nervous laugh to ease the last bit of tension that had been left in her from earlier, and stretched her back.

“You were here earlier too, right?”

She took a seat on one of the chairs, crossing her legs, her eyes following Takahashi as he went to go fetch a violin from the storage. From what she could see… there was a whole room for just the instruments, then another one for whatever else you might need to use and take care of them properly, as well as a bunch of books and notebooks containing scores. She herself had never gotten too much into classical music, but she could only imagine how much someone like Takahashi would adore this place.

“I didn’t get to spend too much time here, but yeah,” he nodded as he walked back, carrying the violin this time.

“You really love music, huh…” Minamoto leaned back in her seat to take up a more comfortable position, and Takahashi beamed at her statement.

“Of course! Who _doesn’t_ love music?” he got into position, already eager to start. “I play for my mom whenever I visit her.”

Speaking of which…

Takahashi always got awfully jumpy whenever his mom was brought up, didn’t he? Or… at least certain things about the topic. Minamoto wasn’t quite sure what that could mean - but he always spoke of her in such a caring and loving manner that she didn’t even think for a second that their relationship could have been bad or even shaky. If anything, he kind of seemed like a mama’s boy.

Takahashi begun to play, and Minamoto listened with almost childlike glee - he’d decided to play some kind of lullaby, which, under any circumstances might have bored her to death, but somehow when it was Takahashi playing it it felt… different. She wanted to pay attention properly, she _wanted_ to keep listening, her eyes following every move of his hands, entranced by the performance. Was this what it meant to be a Super High School Level student with a flashy talent…?

Her own talent really wasn’t anything in that regard in comparison…

Sure, she knew a lot of difficult kanji and had a vast vocabulary, but that didn’t help her much when she was always talking before thinking what she was saying through. She would attempt to write poems, then stutter in embarrassment when reading them out loud. She would bring up a book she read recently, then get nervous when other people didn’t seem to be as interested.

If only she had a talent like Takahashi’s…

Minamoto let out a dreamy sigh.

When Takahashi was finished, she naturally couldn’t help but clap, clasping her hands together afterwards.

“That was lovely, Takahashi-kun!”

Takahashi took a small bow with a delighted smile.

“Thank you very much, Minamoto-san.”

All she had were words, and yet she had such a hard time using them properly.

“Are your mom’s favourite kind of songs lullabies by any chance?”

Takahashi nodded slowly, his smile mellowing out at the question into a more serene one.

“She likes them a lot, yes. I’m the same way too, though.”

Minamoto tapped her chin.

“Say, Takahashi-kun… Why doesn’t your mom live with you?”

Takahashi froze, but he didn’t seem too upset by the question - which was pretty normal with him. He could lose his composure _so_ easily, but he was remarkably hard to make angry, so much so that Minamoto could feel safe asking him practically anything.

“What’s with the sudden curiosity?”

“I mean…” she brushed some of her hair behind her ear, “you act a little strange whenever that comes up. So I thought you might have something you wanted to talk about but couldn’t bring yourself to.”

Most people would have probably assumed the opposite, though.

Sheepishly combing a hand through his hair, Takahashi wasn’t even sure how to respond at first.

“I… just don’t like people feeling sorry for me is all.”

 _That,_ she didn’t understand very well. She enjoyed receiving sympathy, she liked feeling like people cared about her. But perhaps… the kind of sympathy Takahashi was talking about was different.

“Is that so…”

He looked _so_ guilty after that response, and she wanted to take it back; she wanted to reassure him that it was just plain curiosity that made her pry in the first place, but before she could even do that, he promptly cut her off.

“My mom is sick at the hospital.”

Straightening his back, he began his next song.

* * *

 

The mild panic over Izumi getting shocked didn’t even bother Hanamiya one bit.

 _Servers you right_ , he thought, fully aware that he was just being petty.

He liked videogames, he really did, probably a lot more than the average person as well, but noisy crowds, he couldn’t stand, and that’s what he was currently surrounded by. Kageyama seemed to be content playing some kind of shooting game with Fujinomiya - with both of them being suspiciously good at it, Hanamiya was already forming all sorts of theories even before Sakurauchi asked Kageyama about it.

“I like videogames and guns.”

Of course the answer would be that simple.

For Fujinomiya, it was good news - she still covered her mouth with a flustered blush whenever she raised her voice too much, or happened to taunt the boy by accident, but at least she didn’t drop out. That was certainly something.

And that was about as far as Hanamiya got with his thought process before Izumi took a seat next to him, and he just barely managed to hold in an annoyed huff.

Losing his temper really wasn’t like him at all.

“Aren’t you going to join in, Hanamiya-kun?” Izumi peered at him from the side, Hanamiya simply shrugging his shoulders as a response.

“It’s too draining for me.”

“But you’re okay?”

Hanamiya couldn’t even tell if that was meant as a question or a statement, so all he did was silently stare at the floor for a few seconds, wondering if he should even reply. Izumi, he didn’t really dislike; he wasn’t especially obnoxious or annoying, which was great, and he’d scold said obnoxious, annoying people when they went over the line, which was even better. On the other hand, though, Hanamiya was a little tired of everyone constantly trying to talk to him. What did he have to do to get some peace and quiet around here?

“Ahh, geez… You guys are really reluctant to open up, aren’t you?”

The irony of someone complaining to him about people not complaining to them got Hanamiya speechless for a moment.

“Or maybe you’re just bad at getting people to open up,” he replied with a raise of his brow, leaving Izumi temporarily stunned. That _may_ have been a little too far, but he just wasn’t in the mood.

Wait, what was he thinking? Of course it wasn’t too far. Anyone who couldn’t take a remark like that must have incredibly fragile self-esteem.

“You sure are blunt, huh…” Izumi hummed, tilting his head slightly. “But you’re probably right. How do _you_ do it?”

Hanamiya let his glasses slip forward slightly.

“If I knew that, I’d have made sure to stop doing it…”

Attracting so many people was the downfall of an introvert.

He got to his feet, stretching his back.

“Are you leaving already?”

He could _hear_ the pout in Izumi’s voice, and he let his arms drop to his sides.

“Takahashi-kun and Minamoto-san have ditched already… And I kind of want to take a nap.”

Also… he wanted to check up on Komatsu and see if Nakajima was still alive. He hadn’t seen either of the two around after the incident this morning, and as much as he just wanted to sweep it under the rug, the feelings of anxiety didn’t cease.

Once Kageyama saw him leaving, he rushed after him, leaving Sakurauchi and Fujinomiya to their own devices, with Izumi shaking his head in disbelief and defeat. He was probably the type to scold people who tried to skip out on field trips - having reached that realisation, Hanamiya immediately docked a few points from him, letting him drop on his list of people he could tolerate.

“Done already?”

Kageyama walked along his side, looking considerably more cheerful than before - which was saying something, seeing as how him and the snake have been getting along better and better. Hanamiya briefly considered sending him back, but didn’t bother in the end, not wanting to deal with the hassle of convincing him.

“I have a few things I want to check. Don’t you have anything better to do?” he sighed, intending it to be more of a genuine question than a mean-spirited remark. Kageyama, being as laidback as ever, took it the right way, fortunately.

“I figured I should tag along just in case. You might not wanna be walking around by yourself with… you know.”

Yeah, he knew.

He exhaled softly, shrugging his shoulders as a sign that he really didn’t mind all that much in the end.

“Alright, fine… But I’m not letting you into my room.”

Kageyama snickered as he playfully bumped their shoulders.

“Who said anything about that?”

Little did Hanamiya know, his worries weren’t for nothing.

Komatsu was never found that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my :0c plot twist or smth im


	13. Search party

The morning started off relatively peaceful compared to the previous day, even with Kageyama joining up with Hanamiya as soon as he left his room. Hanamiya had gotten considerably more used to the snake with the guy carrying it around everywhere, and he gradually stopped thinking about it completely, even forgetting that it was there a few times.

Breakfast, on the other hand…

Right as Hanamiya managed to relax properly once again, trying his best not to doze off as he munched on a piece of toast, the door to the cafeteria burst open, Takahashi sticking his head inside sheepishly after his dramatic intro.

“Kuroneko’s room is open.”

Nakajima was nowhere to be seen - he looked like a pretty big nervous wreck; he was most likely hiding away in his room. If the door had been opened by Komatsu, it was probably for the best. Who knows what she might do if he doesn’t fulfill his promise…

“On the other hand, the junkie is still nowhere to be seen,” Chiba let out a sigh as he leaned back in his seat, clearly much too bothered by that fact to relax. “What are we gonna do about that?”

“I don’t think we should let her do what she wants either… So splitting up and looking for her might be our best option for now,” Izumi suggested. When the two made eye contact, the air was practically sparking with electricity between them until they both turned their heads away. It seemed that despite their intentions to pretend to forget about what happened, they couldn’t help but hold a bit of a grudge.

Not that that was any concern of Hanamiya’s.

“One group could investigate the room while the rest of us are looking,” Tsutsui brought it up, turning towards Takahashi. “I’d assume you haven’t really had time to check it…?”

When Takahashi shook his head, Tsutsui nodded to herself.

“Alright, let’s pair up then,” Izumi clapped his hands together. “Try not to wander off by yourselves.”

Not that Hanamiya was really planning on wandering anywhere.

Soon enough, the groups were set.

Before Hanamiya could volunteer to search the new room - and, as such, spare himself from walking -, Sakurauchi and Fujinomiya had already snagged it for themselves, so he had to settle for looking around on the third floor with Kageyama. Chiba and Hayama took the second floor, while Minamoto and Takahashi got the first one.

Upon Minamoto’s suggestion, Izumi and Tsutsui were to stay on the third floor as well - since, according to her, _Kageyama-kun would be too occupied with having to constantly wake Hanamiya-kun up._ Hanamiya didn’t intend to argue with the sentiment; he could barely stay awake during breakfast to begin with.

Nor did he complain when he was pulled to his feet by Kageyama, the snake around his waist hissing in agreement.

* * *

 

The second floor was somehow much bigger than Chiba remembered it being - or perhaps it was just the fact that they had to be careful to search each room thoroughly so they wouldn’t miss anything. Whoever had stolen Komatsu’s meds could have easily hid them in a randomly picked room as well.

The library didn’t take incredibly long to check, nor did the infirmary, both rooms being reasonably small, but the gym took a good while, and Chiba had to admit, having his nerves be on edge the whole time wasn’t exactly helping. He wasn’t scared of Komatsu or anything - he knew he had an overwhelming advantage when it came to physical strength and skill alone -, but rather, it was the fact that he constantly had to be on guard so she wouldn’t be able to run if she was spotted. They couldn’t afford to let her out of their sight for even a second.

Just as he was about to step into the changing room lead to the pool, though, he noticed Hayama stiffen next to him. She had been oddly quiet the entire time, but it took him a while to realise - she was probably thinking about Akiyama. As much as she tried to play it off like nothing, she clearly wasn’t over the whole thing - obviously, barely any time had passed. And they did find him in the pool…

He gave her back a small pat, unable to reach her shoulder without making himself look absolutely ridiculous.

“I can go check by myself, if you want.”

Hayama flashed him a grateful smile and nodded her head.

“Thank you, Chiba-kun.”

And with that, Chiba went ahead and entered the room by himself.

The changing room was the same as always; checking inside the pool would be the hard part. He _hated_ being around water to begin with, and remembering that scene always sent shivers down his spine. Hopefully… if he could just get it done quickly, he’d be fine.

When he stepped inside, he found the room in an almost untouched state, oddly resembling the first time he glanced inside of it. He did have to wonder what the mastermind would do with the bodies once they’ve been moved…

No, better not think about it.

Once he was done examining the place, he breathed a sigh of relief as he headed towards the exit. He supposed they should join back up with the others, if they hadn’t found anything.

However, when he arrived back in the hallway, Hayama had vanished.

* * *

 

Despite Minamoto’s insistence, Takahashi seemed dead set on leaving every room be. Nobody really bothered locking theirs unless they were inside, and since everyone but Nakajima was out, most of them were unlocked - some even having been left wide open -, but nevertheless, Takahashi stubbornly shot the idea down each time. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable looking through people’s private belongings, despite Minamoto’s reasoning that if they didn’t want others snooping around, they’d be locking their doors.

She settled down in the end, naturally, occupying herself with replaying the previous day’s events in her head instead. After Takahashi’s quick confession, she didn’t ask anything else, only satisfying herself with listening to him play instead. He seemed grateful that she stopped bringing it up, too, which she was extremely glad about - she’d have hated to cross a line again by accident.

“Next up… the bath maybe?” Takahashi tapped his chin, leaving Minamoto humming thoughtfully instead. They were almost done searching already, with only 2 rooms left to check, and she was about to walk ahead leisurely when she almost doubled over, having to hold onto the wall as she groaned softly.

Oh, dear. This wasn’t good timing.

Takahashi, of course, immediately panicked, but she held up a hand for him to be quiet, carefully pushing herself away from the wall.

“M-Minamoto-san, are you alright…? Is it your hand?”

Minamoto shook her head. She _had_ noticed a weird feeling earlier, but just brushed it off as having eaten too much for breakfast, until the dull pain gradually grew into a more familiar one.

With the infirmary closed… she wondered if there were any painkillers left in the store.

Before that, though…

She turned around sharply to walk in the direction of her room, Takahashi following her around like some kind of mother hen trying to protect her chick.

“Minamoto-san, if you need any help-“

“It’s nothing, Takahashi-kun,” she cut him off with a forced smile, pushing him back slightly to lean against her door. “I’m having some lady troubles is all. I’ll get back to you soon.”

By soon, she meant in around an hour or so. That is, if the pain would be gone without painkillers in that time…

Takahashi obviously didn’t get it, but he gave her an understanding nod, taking a step back to let her enter her room and close the door behind her.

She might be able to make a makeshift heating pad in the bathroom…

* * *

 

Sakurauchi didn’t even need to focus to pick up on the heavily disgruntled expression Hanamiya wore when she volunteered to check the new room with Fujinomiya - but it wasn’t enough to get her to back down. She was just trying to prevent Fujinomiya from getting too freaked out again, that’s all.

From the looks of it, Fujinomiya hadn’t picked up on the meaning behind the gesture, as she nervously stuttered out an encouragement before she got to searching the room right away, wearing an expression somewhere between shy and determined.

The room was about what Sakurauchi expected after seeing the one belonging to Shironeko - this time, though, they didn’t have Hanamiya to trip over furniture and gather more evidence, so they’d have to be much more thorough with their investigation. Which included her leaning on everything carefully to see if it’d reveal a secret safe of some kind.

She had other things she wanted to bring up as well, though…

After a long period of silence, she cleared her throat.

“Fujinomiya-san… would you still like me if my personality was boring?”

Fujinomiya turned to look at her with a questioning look in her eyes, not quite knowing what she was getting at, and Sakurauchi struggled to explain herself properly.

“I mean… Would you still be willing to talk to me if there was nothing about me that made me unique?”

She quickly turned her head away to spare herself from the awkward atmosphere, going back to examining the shelf she’d been staring at previously. From the corner of her eye, she could see Fujinomiya tilting her head.

“I’m… not really sure what you mean, sorry,” she smiled apologetically, adjusting her glasses quickly before they could slip off as she leaned forward to check underneath the desk. “I think most people aren’t really unique, though… Or if you want to put it another way, they all are.”

She bit her lip.

“You like fiction, right? I think… you might be using that as a basis instead of real life.”

Sakurauchi blinked, her movements stopping for a moment.

“Am I?”

“A-at least I think so…!” Fujinomiya stuttered, a little bashful about having to be the one giving out advice. She reached for her glasses repeatedly to wipe them with almost mechanical movements, which, somehow, eased Sakurauchi’s own nerves. This was just Fujinomiya; what was she being so shy about?

Fujinomiya carefully climbed on top of the bed to peer at the shelf that had been placed above, on the wall.

“Fiction is usually an exaggeration of reality… And… I think people can be fun to talk to without them acting all dramatic,” she chuckled nervously, stepping back down onto the floor once she was done. “But that’s just my opinion, really. I don’t know if I’m the person you want to ask about this…”

Sakurauchi’s smile gradually grew into her normal one.

“No, it’s okay. That was plenty.”

She nodded her head several times.

“Thank you, Fujinomiya-san!”

Fujinomiya fidgeted for a few seconds, taking a few steps towards her and lowering her voice.

“By the way, uhm… if you’re still concerned about appearing too normal…”

She practically whispered as she leaned a little closer.

“I think Izumi-kun is still more boring.”

Before Sakurauchi could even react, Fujinomiya took a step back, tripping over her own feet in the process, rushing to get back to what she’d been doing too much. As she flailed her arms, she managed to grab onto the wall just in time, only for the floorboard to slide forward as she attempted to regain her balance.

She landed on her backside, right in the middle of a giant stack of papers, letting out a high-pitched, startled shriek.

“F-Fujinomiya-san, are you alright!?”

Sakurauchi bent down to reach out towards her, Fujinomiya letting her pull her out of the newly made rectangular hole in the floor. Movable floorboards, huh… Something like that didn’t even cross her mind.

Once Fujinomiya reassured her repeatedly that she was fine, Sakurauchi got on her knees to try to remove the papers without crumpling them even more, then laying them on the ground in a clumsily organized pile. Fujinomiya fetched her an empty folder from one of the desk’s drawers so they would have something to put them into afterwards, and Sakurauchi tried to quickly scan the first page.

Emphasis on _tried_ \- the kanji was way too hard for her to read. It seemed they’d either need Minamoto or Nakajima yet again - both seemed to be very good with difficult text. With a heavy sigh, once she confirmed that Fujinomiya had no idea what was written on them either, Sakurauchi put the papers away, hugging the folder to herself afterwards.

Time to go look for everyone else and show them their findings.

* * *

 

Hanamiya opened his eyes to being shaken awake by Kageyama, slapping his hand away weakly to sit up properly and examine his surroundings.

While Kageyama had been searching the concert hall, he sat down in the corner to organize his thoughts, and ended up dozing off for the umpteenth time without intending to. Kageyama didn’t even seem bothered by it - if he woke him up, it must have meant that he was done with the room already. It was great having such a diligent partner - Hanamiya applauded him silently.

“Let’s go check the storages, okay?”

Hanamiya nodded sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he got to his feet. Why did they need so many rooms on this ship anyway…? It seemed pretty silly to him - but then again, he wasn’t the type to waste his money on things like travelling. He’d have been pretty okay with being stuck in his room at all times.

The first storage was bigger than the second one, that much he could remember, and he plopped down onto one of the chairs, letting Kageyama do all the work again. How convenient…

He wondered if the others had gotten anywhere. As big as the ship was, it shouldn’t take too long to investigate it properly with this many people around… right? And there really weren’t many places Komatsu could be. Her room probably would’ve been the first place they’d have checked if the door hadn’t been left wide open, making it obvious that nobody was inside.

Aside from that, though… there was also the matter of Kuroneko’s room. How did Komatsu get it unlocked…? Shironeko was obviously just playing around, so it couldn’t have been as easy as the previous one.

Or… perhaps the mastermind was counting on them to open the doors somehow. It wouldn’t make sense for them to leave all this information lying around in such suspicious locations, right? They could easily store all the data electronically, or on a part of the ship that was completely unknown and inaccessible to everyone else. So… maybe the mastermind intended for them to figure out all that.

But if that was the case, why were they trying to hide it in the first place? Just so they could toy with them?

That might have been the right answer…

He could remember Natsume’s confession quite vividly - _he’d_ been tempted by all the small clues they’d been given enough to kill someone to find out the truth. And while he may have been a special case… Hanamiya didn’t know the others well enough to be able to judge accurately how far they’d be willing to go for finding answers to these things.

He, on the other hand, knew this much wouldn’t be able to shake him. All he could do was wait… although that wait wasn’t exactly pleasant with everyone else resorting to such drastic measures around him. Kageyama might have learned his lesson after the case with Yokoyama and Aragaki… but he couldn’t say the same about everyone else.

So then… maybe he should hang around Kageyama more _just in case_. If he was a safe bet, Hanamiya was willing to spend more time with him in exchange of avoiding being ambushed in the hallway or something. He’d been able to avoid getting injured up until now, but who knows how long that would last…

Kageyama waved to catch his attention again, leisurely leaning against the wall for a moment to wipe his forehead.

“One more room left… Think you can avoid falling asleep until we’re done with that?”

Hanamiya nodded, and Kageyama pulled him to his feet.

“Most people wouldn’t be dozing off so easily in these kind of situations,” Kageyama remarked nonchalantly, more amused by the situation than anything else. The guy was attracted to the abnormal, that much was clear - so Hanamiya promptly took a step to the side to get him out of his personal space, walking ahead himself.

He didn’t like being stared at.

“Once we’re done with this… we go back to the cafeteria, right?” he yawned, crouching down to look behind some boxes as Kageyama let the door close behind them.

“That’s what we agreed on, yeah,” Kageyama hummed in agreement. Hanamiya scowled slightly.

“So I’ll have to go down the stairs again… such a pain.”

Walking up them in the first place took a lot more energy than he thought it would.

“You really should exercise more, Hanamiya,” Kageyama snickered at his sour reaction. “I go paintballing with my friends every once in a while. I can invite you, if you want. It’s pretty fun.”

“I could do without getting shot in the face, thank you,” Hanamiya declined without hesitation, straightening up. Exercise by itself was one thing, but exercise and pain? No, thank you.

As soon as he dusted his pants off, a dull, muffled thud sounded from outside. Both boys froze before slowly turning towards each other.

“Should we check…?” Kageyama glanced between Hanamiya and the door repeatedly, Hanamiya shrugging his shoulders in an exaggerated manner. If someone fell down, then yeah, they should probably check on them - but if there was fighting going on, he’d rather hide away in the storage until it was over.

In the end, Kageyama walked towards the door first…

…only to find it locked.

“Did… did we lock this?”

“The lock is outside,” Hanamiya reminded him, approaching the door himself to examine it. Either it was stuck, or someone had locked them inside. How… pleasant.

Ignoring Kageyama’s whining, he walked towards the corner and simply lay on the floor, curling up comfortably so he could get some proper rest.

“You’re okay with this, aren’t you?” Kageyama sighed, stepping away from the door to sit down on the ground. Hanamiya stifled a yawn.

“Yep.”

* * *

 

“You okay there?”

Tsutsui raised her head, giving Izumi a small nod.

They’d gone down to the first floor when they came across a rather worried looking Takahashi who directed them towards Minamoto’s room, and after a very awkward conversation with the girl, they stood around silently for a while. Izumi seemed like he was just waiting for her to move, but she found herself spacing out, her brows gradually furrowing more and more.

If she was going to ask someone for advice… might as well do it now. She wasn’t worried about Minamoto anymore - she seemed to be getting along quite well with Takahashi, which was great! -, but there was still the case of Nakajima. And since _he_ didn’t seem like he was going to go out of his way to talk to people, she didn’t feel like it’d be okay to leave the situation be just yet.

She’d been seen through so easily… she felt a little discouraged. Surely, he wasn’t going to want to talk to her again if he knew she’d been acting like this out of pure concern. He didn’t seem like the type to enjoy being pitied.

“Izumi-chan…”

She paused, and he patiently waited for her to continue.

“What would you do to get someone to open up to you?”

Izumi blinked, as though he couldn’t believe she was asking him this. To be fair… he didn’t seem particularly close to anyone here, despite him going out of his way to be social…

He might have been an even more difficult case than Nakajima.

“This is about Nakajima-kun, isn’t it?”

Yeah, she was probably way too obvious about that; Tsutsui nodded.

“I just don’t like seeing people being by themselves is all…” she started, fidgeting a little between sentences. “I don’t want to leave this be… but I don’t want to be a bother either, because I know that won’t do any good. Leaving someone by themselves, especially in this kind of situation… I don’t want that.”

Izumi nodded understandingly, rubbing his chin as he listened and thought it over. He would probably be on her side, right? He’d only been assertive enough occasionally, but it was clear that he wanted everyone to stick together as well, clumsy as he was at making that happen.

“Maybe if he found someone he could resonate with, he’d have someone to talk to…” Izumi mused, but Tsutsui shook her head.

“I already tried setting him up with Minamoto-chan… and I don’t think either of them liked it very much.”

Izumi had to stifle a small laugh, leaving her momentarily confused.

“You know what they say - opposites attract,” he finally smiled, shoulders still shaking a little. “I don’t think the sarcastic and introverted pair is a good combination.”

It took Tsutsui a moment to realise what he meant, and she lowered her flushed face in embarrassment. Neither Nakajima nor Minamoto were particularly good at socialising, were they? Not to mention they both resorted to cynical remarks when they were nervous… No wonder they didn’t get along! Maybe if she found someone who wasn’t too energetic, but was still really genuine and nice, the results would be better.

Eyes sparkling, she took Izumi’s hands to grasp them gratefully before she realised she should at least try to explain herself.

“You’re right, that’s a really good point…! Thank you very much, Izumi-chan!”

He gave her a sheepish smile back, raising his hand to pat her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I can help.”

Tsutsui made a mental note to send someone fitting this time around to talk with Nakajima later.

* * *

 

It took Hanamiya a while to wake up - or at least he thought it did, judging by the pain in his neck when he finally lifted his head. He was used to sleeping in awkward positions, but definitely not for this long. Kageyama didn’t even notice that he’d woken up, busy playing with the snake and calling it all sorts of weird pet names - one of which appeared to be… Scaly? Hanamiya wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

After a bit of stretching, he called out to Kageyama, who flinched ever so slightly, a little startled. At least he was occupied enough with his pet that he wasn’t being an annoyance.

“Do you know what time it is?”

Kageyama tilted his head.

“No idea. I don’t have a watch on me, and from what I can see…” he glanced around in the room, “there’s no clock here.”

Great.

Catching a break was pretty nice until he felt himself growing a little hungry, wishing that he could go get something to eat. Knocking the door down was out of the question, but… maybe they could find something to unscrew it with?

By that, he meant asking Kageyama to do so, of course.

Before he could speak up, though, the monitor in the room turned on, leaving him silent for several seconds.

“A body has been discovered! We’ll give you some time to investigate before the trial, then it’s showtime!”

Strangely enough… the announcement played twice in a row. Hanamiya’s intuition told him he didn’t wanna find out why, but it wasn’t like he had a choice.

Kageyama froze, getting to his feet once the monitor was switched off again.

“We should… probably find a way out.”

“Agreed,” Hanamiya sighed, although he remained sitting, trying his hardest to think of something for the situation, until suddenly…

The sprinkler system turned on.

Before he knew it, he was soaked in water from head to toe, only daring to raise his head once the impromptu rain had stopped, giving the ceiling a flat look. They appeared to be on a bad luck streak… how ironic, with this guy here.

Just as he reached the end of that thought process… the trap door in the ceiling opened, Kuroneko leaping down.

Great.

“You guys seem like you’re in a bit of a pinch,” she snickered, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. “Is it comfortable in here?”

“Very,” Hanamiya sighed. “If you’re just here to annoy the hell out of us, feel free to go back where you’d come from.”

“Or you could let us out maybe…?” Kageyama suggested, Kuroneko promptly dismissing it with a wave of her paw.

“No, no, I’ve important business here.”

She reached out with her paw towards Hanamiya first.

“Give me your hand.”

“If you’re planning on putting another one of those devices on me, I’m good,” Hanamiya didn’t move, sending her an annoyed look. Kuroneko threw her arms up in exasperation.

“I can’t even do _one_ nice thing for you guys without you suspecting me, huh?”

“I wonder why…” Hanamiya muttered.

“I’m going to take the bracelet off, brat,” Kuroneko huffed, reaching towards him again. “Now… we can do this the hard way, or the easy way. If you don’t give me your hand right now, I swear-“

Hanamiya lifted his hand without further comments, holding it out with the most apathetic face he could put on. Kuroneko grasped the bracelet, then pulled it open after a long beeping sound. Hanamiya immediately drew his hand back, rubbing his wrist automatically. Finally, that stupid thing was off…

Once Kageyama’s had been removed as well, Kuroneko waved them bye.

“I must go back to the others now. Get yourselves unstuck in the meantime.”

And with that, she was gone.

Kageyama took his hat off to twist it around, trying to squeeze the water out of the fabric.

They didn’t need to wait much longer for the door to be opened, fortunately - Nakajima stuck his head inside as it creaked open, his hair wet from the sprinklers.

“There you guys are… Everyone’s been looking all over for you.”

Kageyama breathed a sigh of relief, walking up to Hanamiya to pull him up as well.

“Yeah, well… As you might have noticed, our options were rather limited,” Hanamiya shot Nakajima a flat look, who rolled his eyes in exchange. “I see you’re out of solitary confinement.”

“I heard the announcement. Figured I should check for myself,” he shrugged, opening the door fully. His clothes were dry - must’ve changed them in his room before he left. “You should do that too…”

“Where do we need to go?” Kageyama let go of Hanamiya once he was sure he wasn’t just going to go limp and fall back down, and Nakajima pointed over his shoulder.

“The planetarium.”

Hanamiya followed Kageyama outside, Nakajima in the far back, unwilling to walk too close to them, and sooner or later Hanamiya found himself being practically dragged by Kageyama, the latter speeding up enough to make it difficult for him to keep up.

When they stepped into the room, they wasn’t even sure of what they were looking for first. After walking around in the daylight, the dim lighting made it a bit hard to see - nevertheless, though, Hanamiya only barely missed the puddle of blood that has gathered on the floor. As he raised his head, he instinctively took a step back, startled by what he saw.

Komatsu and Hayama were hanging from the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops :(


	14. Sweet delusions

They’d already missed quite a few people by arriving somewhat late - which was definitely good. Hanamiya was rather certain he’d prefer not to come across Chiba until he was sure he’d find him in a relatively calm state. Wherever he was, he must’ve been fuming.

The people currently present aside from Hanamiya and Kageyama… were Takahashi and naturally, Nakajima. Either Chiba hadn’t come by yet, or he left before they could get there. Hanamiya was hoping for the latter.

Takahashi took it upon himself to try to get the bodies down. The ropes that were used to suspend them had been tied to one of the bars hanging from the ceiling, which was quite challenging to get to - he managed to lower them using the control panel near the wall, then carefully untied the knots, gingerly placing the bodies onto the floor.

The only question was… with Natsume gone, who was going to investigate the bodies? Maybe they wouldn’t need to - the Shironeko file could easily contain every information they needed -, but taking chances was a bad idea.

Grasping the tablet he’d been given earlier, he subtly turned to look at Nakajima, the others around him gradually following his actions until the boy shrank back uncomfortably.

“What?”

“You were bragging about your memory, weren’t you?” Hanamiya recalled with a small frown, giving him a meaningful look. “It’d be the most convenient if you were the one to examine them.”

“I’m not going to touch a dead body,” Nakajima took a step back, glancing between said bodies and Hanamiya. “I will look, obviously, but that’s it.”

“Right…” Hanamiya sighed, waving his hand in a dismissive manner, not wanting to argue. Looking at everyone else in the room, he placed his hands on his hips. “Any volunteers?”

Kageyama slowly raised his hand, the snake lifting its head to give him a questioning look. Or, at least… it looked like it was doing that.

“We won’t… strip them, right?” he asked carefully, lowering his hand. “If it’s just moving them, I can do that.”

Hanamiya shrugged.

“You should probably remove Hayama-san’s jacket… But I highly doubt anyone here is willing to go further.”

Kageyama nodded; that much was fine.

He approached Hayama first, turning her around so she was lying on her back instead, Nakajima cautiously peering at them from a safe distance, only walking closer once he was sure Hanamiya wasn’t going to drag him over there. Not that he _would_ have in any situation…

Hanamiya opened up the file as Kageyama unzipped her jacket.

_The Victim is Hayama Momoko._

_The body was found hanging from the ceiling in the planetarium._

_There are several bruises on the victim's neck, stab wounds around the abdomen area, and the stomach appears to have been sliced open._

_Additionally, there is a severe burn around the victim's right wrist._

So brutal… He shivered slightly. From the looks of it, Kageyama wasn’t much better either - he drew his hand back almost immediately, pressing it over his mouth as he averted his gaze. There was a _lot_ of blood, and her wounds up close must not have been a pretty sight.

She was still wearing her bracelet, but from what Hanamiya could see, the skin that _was_ visible did look somewhat burnt, although it was somewhat difficult to see everything properly with the lights so dim.

“Her bruises are from Komatsu strangling her, right?” Nakajima narrowed his eyes to try to see them better. “We slipped up with Akiyama… but I think these really might be irrelevant.”

There was no cause of death listed for either… but maybe they could put aside the bruises for now and focus on the rest of the injuries.

Kageyama got to his feet, stepping back.

“Pretty much everything else lines up with the file, I think… But I’ll leave her like this if you wanna examine her more.”

Having gotten a bit of blood on his hands, he took a deep breath, trying his best not to look at them as he walked over to Komatsu this time, crouching down. Her dress was either too big for her, or it was designed to look that way - regardless, it was rather hard to see her wounds properly. Kageyama wasn’t even sure where to start at first, then he hesitantly reached for the sash to untie it. Her flip fops had fallen off, and were lying on the ground nearby, but nobody made any moves to touch them.

_The victim is Komatsu Yui._

_The body was found hanging from the ceiling in the planetarium._

_The victim's left wrist is heavily bruised, and apart from a stab wound in the abdomen, there are signs of blunt force trauma to the head._

Once Kageyama was done, he was about to stand back up, when Nakajima suddenly spoke up.

“There’s something under her dress.”

“She kept everything there, didn’t she?” Hanamiya raised a brow, but Nakajima only sent him a glare.

“Regardless, I think we should check it. It could be the murder weapon, for all we know.”

“Yeah, well…” Kageyama got to his feet this time, looking around to find a tap to wash his hands at. “You’re welcome to grope her all you want. I’m sorry, but I’d rather not touch a girl in such an inappropriate manner.”

From the way he said it, it was clear he wasn’t going to change his mind - it was rare for Kageyama to speak in such a manner.

Hanamiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Go wash your hands,” he turned to Kageyama first, his gaze slowly shifting towards the side. “I’ll get us some assistance.”

Fortunately Kageyama didn’t even argue as he walked off - he was probably just happy that he could clean himself off -, and without further ado, Hanamiya marched over to Takahashi, who’d been standing a bit further away.

He was sure he could manage; after all, this was Takahashi he was talking about. Hanamiya could count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen him stand up for himself, and something like this was especially important, so surely, he wouldn’t be able to refuse.

And as Hanamiya had thought, Takahashi agreed, albeit rather reluctantly, and the other two watched as he timidly reached underneath the dress, letting out a small squeak when he touched something inappropriate, his eyes shut tightly and his head turned to the side. After a few more seconds, he went still, pulling out a bloodied knife and hesitantly opening his eyes again. Either the knife had been there all this time, and she stabbed herself in the stomach by accident - not very likely, but it was _interesting_ to imagine -, or the culprit had hid it there after she was killed.

The next thing that caught his attention was the fact that the room seemed to be quite dry - there must not have been a sprinkler system in here. Either that, or the cats had turned it off to preserve the crime scene for them to investigate properly. Regardless of which one it was, they were lucky.

His eyes shifted towards the puddle of blood on the floor that everyone had been careful to walk around, and he crouched down to examine it closer. Upon first glance, he would’ve brushed it off as nothing important, but the more he looked at it, the more it resembled writing.

He squinted at it once he wiped his glasses with his sleeve.

‘ _Thief_ ’

Would that classify as sinister? Because it certainly seemed like it would. The only question was: who wrote that? Hayama’s hands were clean, that much he could tell, so either it was the culprit… or Komatsu.

He walked over to Komatsu’s body again, touching her sleeve with two fingers so he could lift it slightly and peer at her hand. Her thumbs and palms were quite bloody, but the rest of her fingers were clean, almost suspiciously so. If she _had_ been the one to write that, what reason would the culprit have for trying to hide it?

He straightened up.

Nakajima had been about to leave, but Hanamiya gestured for him to stay, pointing at Takahashi behind him.

“We don’t know where Chiba-kun is, and I don’t think we should let a single person guard the bodies by themselves.”

Nakajima seemed like he wanted to argue very much, but only rolled his eyes in the end, understanding Hanamiya’s point, sending him on his way with only a single sarcastic remark.

Thank the heavens.

Hanamiya was greeted by Kageyama when he exited the room - the latter was now clean, as well as wearing dry clothes. Hanamiya wasn’t super motivated to change himself - he’d gotten plenty used to the wet clothes, and they were going to dry sooner or later anyway. They weren’t dirty or anything.

“Where should we check next?”

Kageyama’s question made it obvious that he wasn’t planning on splitting up anytime soon - Hanamiya gave him a flat look, but didn’t remark on it. He would’ve just called him annoying and simply walked off - except Kageyama really wasn’t. He was genuine and respectful, and he _has_ proven to be helpful many times. He was… actually a pretty nice guy, once his strange ego concerning his talent had broken down.

Not that Hanamiya was going to tell him that anytime soon - he had no inclination whatsoever to revive that ego of his again.

“Let’s check the rest of this floor first.”

Kageyama had no objections.

They had just about finished investigating the arcade and the cinema when they ran into Sakurauchi on their way to the concert hall. She was clutching some kind of folder to her chest - Hanamiya could easily guess what it was, based on their actions during the morning. She seemed a little flushed, and was breathing a tad heavily, as though she’d been quite literally running around.

“You guys wouldn’t happen to know where Minamoto-san is, would you?”

Kageyama and Hanamiya shook their heads in unison, and she sighed.

“I need her to read this for me, but I can’t find her anywhere…”

“Nakajima-kun is in the planetarium,” Hanamiya mentioned nonchalantly, glancing in said direction. “He might be able to help you as well.”

Sakurauchi stiffened, looking rather hesitant for multiple reasons - Nakajima wasn’t exactly the friendly type, and going back there would mean having to see the dead bodies again… but she caved in in the end regardless. She must’ve _really_ wanted to know what the documents she’d been holding onto said.

“Alright, I’ll do that,” she nodded, walking off towards said room by herself. Hanamiya kind of wanted to follow her to find out as soon as possible what the paper said… but he had more important things to do. It’d be quite troubling if they ran out of time without checking every place, and with the space getting bigger each time, they had to do it faster and faster.

The last room left on the third floor was the concert hall - but at least they had one less storage to examine, considering they’ve spent a pretty long amount of time in the second one. Stretching his back, he found Fujinomiya inside when he entered, Kageyama leisurely following him.

And, naturally, he almost fell on his ass, Kageyama catching him in the last second. _Of course_ this would happen again, because once wasn’t enough, was it? He narrowed his eyes at the wet floor as Kageyama helped him regain his balance, muttering a ‘thanks’ under his breath afterwards. He would’ve taken solace in the fact that he managed to avoid getting himself wet this time, but that wouldn’t have mattered this time around, considering… he’d already gotten there.

Fujinomiya happened to be leaning over a trash can, having some sort of staring contest with it, her gaze so intense, Hanamiya had to wonder if he should even interrupt her. In the end, he cleared his throat.

“What are you looking at?”

She flinched, whizzing around so fast she almost slipped and fell herself, just barely managing to hold onto the wall. Kageyama whistled.

“A-ahh, it’s just you guys…” she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she’d been expecting the culprit to sneak up on her. “There’s something in the trash… But I’m not sure what it is.”

So they were examining garbage now. Lovely.

Hanamiya peered into the trash can himself to see what she was talking about, and he raised a brow. There was some kind of cloth placed on top of it, so he couldn’t exactly see a lot, but… was that a vase…?

Grabbing onto it with two fingers, he lifted it out of the can, Fujinomiya nervously fidgeting next to him. Yeah, that was a vase alright. As he turned it around to examine it properly, the dry blood one part of it had been coated in didn’t go unnoticed by him. Judging by that, and the fact that they’d found it in the trash… could it be that the culprit was trying to dispose of evidence? They could have just smashed it…

Wait, that’s not true. It would have been against the rules, so if this was some kind of clue, the culprit had no choice but to leave it or hide it without breaking it.

Hanamiya made a low humming sound as he rubbed his chin with his free hand, before simply dropping the vase back into the trash, startling Fujinomiya.

“You’ve been looking around here for a while now, right? Anything else you noticed?”

She nodded timidly, clearing her throat.

“U-uhm… I don’t believe this room has a sprinkler system.”

No sprinkler system, huh…? Well, he did know of a few rooms like that. He would’ve just simply brushed the observation of, had he not realised something suddenly.

The floor was _unnaturally_ wet.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t water that had dripped down from people walking around as well; there was way too much of it if it was just that, and unless a group of students just decided to stand in the corner to water the floor, there was pretty much no chance for it to have been caused by the shower from earlier.

He wasn’t sure what this meant yet, but he made sure to remember it for later.

Once they parted ways with Fujinomiya, Hanamiya let out a sigh upon acknowledging the fact that they’d need to explore the rest of the floors as well. It was unpleasant… but he was certain they were still missing too many details to make an accurate conclusion.

The second floor was much more deserted than the third, but Hanamiya already wanted to turn around when he spotted Chiba of all people leaving the changing room. Before he could go through with his escape plan, though, Kageyama had grabbed onto the back of his shirt, keeping him from simply walking away.

“Let’s go ask Chiba if he’s found anything,” he suggested, already dragging Hanamiya towards the other boy against his will. Well, if something went wrong, he supposed he could always just hide behind Kageyama - with that in mind, he gradually stopped trying to resist.

“Hey,” Kageyama called out once they were close enough, finally letting go of Hanamiya. “Got any tips about where we should look?”

For a moment, Chiba’s glare was so intense Hanamiya thought he was just going to punch them without a word, but as he exhaled, he seemed to deflate slightly, going from intimidating to just gloomy. He crossed his arms, pursing his lips for a few seconds.

“Go check the pool. I haven’t… found anything in the rest of the rooms.”

Kageyama lifted his hat slightly.

“You doing okay, by the way?”

Chiba went back to glaring, but he still looked more defeated than threatening.

“What do you think, dumbass? I’m peachy.”

Yeah, he definitely wanted to be left alone for a while. Before Kageyama could say anything else, Hanamiya took the lead, stepping forward.

“Thanks for the tip,” he turned to Chiba, grabbing Kageyama by the wrist. “We’ll be going now.”

“…Yeah,” Chiba nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. He walked off without another word, most likely to continue the investigation. Maybe Kageyama was just trying to help, but Chiba wasn’t exactly the type to look for a shoulder to cry on about his issues - which was _great_ , because Hanamiya wasn’t giving any more pep talks.

“Are you sure we should just leave him be?” Kageyama questioned him after they stepped into the changing room, Hanamiya stretching his back next to him.

“Probably. He’s like a ticking time bomb right now.”

Hanamiya turned his head. Chiba did mention the pool specifically… and the changing room seemed to be pretty normal.

“We should invite him to hang out once this is over, then,” Kageyama insisted, and Hanamiya rolled his eyes at the phrasing again. Feelings jams weren’t exactly his thing, if it hadn’t been obvious enough yet.

“Why do you keep including me…?” Hanamiya couldn’t help but comment on it this time. _We’re not friends or anything_.

Kageyama shrugged.

“Dunno. I mean… isn’t it boring, being by yourself all day?”

“I’m anything but that with you guys constantly clinging to me,” Hanamiya corrected him, stifling a yawn. Kageyama hummed.

“Fair enough. But also… I wanna repay the favor you did for me.”

“You mean feeding you.”

“Maybe that too,” that got a small grin out of him. “I mean the scolding, though.”

Hanamiya paused for a second, slowly turning towards him to give him an incredulous look.

“I was an _ass_.”

Not that he regretted any of it. Kageyama didn’t seem bothered by it in the slightest, though.

“You were honest,” he gave his side a small nudge. “That’s a virtue.”

Hanamiya let out an annoyed huff, walking ahead again.

“God, you’re ridiculous…”

Kageyama didn’t respond this time, instead focusing on examining the room properly, Hanamiya’s own gaze gradually shifting towards the water, spotting something from the corner of his eye. He walked a bit closer to crouch down, having to wipe his glasses to see it properly.

There was blood in the water.

Well, either that, or it was red paint again. He sure as hell wasn’t going to taste it.

He gestured for Kageyama, and the guy almost pushed both of them in as he leaned over Hanamiya to look.

“Do you think it’s real…?”

“Care to test it?” Hanamiya glanced up at him, and Kageyama shook his head.

“I’m good.”

Better keep it in mind for now, then…

As Hanamiya thought, the rest of the second floor turned out to be clear. The next room that they _did_ find something in… was the kitchen.

They’d combed through the majority of the first floor, excluding the bedrooms, when Hanamiya picked up on the faintest smell of smoke coming from the cafeteria - and as he stepped inside, he realised how much nicer it’d be if they could open the windows at these times. One peek in the kitchen told him what he needed to know, and he wasn’t surprised in the slightest when Izumi practically ran him over as he left the room, trying his best not to cough and failing miserably.

He just hoped the cats would do something about it soon.

“I doubt you guys were going to anyway, but avoid going in there,” Izumi managed once he finished choking on air, leaning against the wall.

They were in agreement.

“This is probably what triggered the alarm, isn’t it?” Kageyama chimed in, Hanamiya having to jab him in the side with a finger to get him out of his personal space again, sending him tumbling back a step with a squeak.

“Someone was slacking off during duty, apparently,” Hanamiya remarked, not caring in the slightest how well the same comment could have been applied to him as well. “I’m… really curious who thought cooking food at this time was a good idea.”

Izumi finally straightened his back, wiping his forehead.

“From what I _could_ see, it was just the stove… Either the cats cleaned up the burnt dish, or there never was any in the first place.”

Huh.

“I don’t think they’d clean it up…” Hanamiya half-mumbled, frowning as he tried to make sense of it all. “It would count as destroying evidence or something, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Izumi pushed himself away from the wall, clearly eager to leave. “I’ll be on the third floor if you guys need me.”

He stopped right in the doorway, glancing back at them one last time.

“I believe Tsutsui-san and Minamoto-san are investigating Hayama-san’s and Komatsu-san’s rooms. If you’re looking for either of them, that is.”

 _Now,_ Hayama’s room was still off-limits, but Komatsu’s on the other hand… Hanamiya had exactly zero qualms about investigating that one. In fact, he couldn’t deny being rather curious himself, even separately from the case. Who knows what they might end up finding in the room of such a person…

On the other hand, this also might be a good opportunity to split up again.

“How willing are you to check Hayama-san’s room?” he looked towards Kageyama, the boy already shaking his head.

“I’m a guy. I can’t just walk into a girl’s room, you know.”

 “Alright, suit yourself,” Hanamiya shrugged before stretching his back. “I’m gonna go see if there’s anything useful in Komatsu-san’s, see ya.”

Turning on his heels, he headed towards said room without waiting for Kageyama’s reply, but in the end, he didn’t follow him. Even with the fact that he’d stopped minding the snake after a while, Hanamiya would’ve still preferred to do these things by himself. It was _so_ much harder to focus properly when all these things kept distracting him.

While the door had been closed by someone else, it didn’t appear to have been locked, and Hanamiya stuck his head inside carefully, jumping ever so slightly at what he saw.

The furnitures had been pushed towards the walls, a large, empty space in the middle of the room. The entire place was littered with pieces of paper scattered around with the occasional crayon and pencil peeking out. There was some kind of altar in the center, a few blown out candles surrounding it, while Tsutsui was standing on the side, reading one of the sheets she’d most likely picked up from the floor. Hanamiya cleared his throat, and she almost dropped her phone when she turned towards him.

“Hi.”

She returned the greeting with a simple nod, hurrying way too much to update him on something else instead.

“You should look at some of these, Hanamiya-chan. I’m not really sure what to make of them.”

And as she suggested, he did indeed look.

Most of the pages contained extremely messy sketches and barely eligible scribbles, and were pretty much chaotic enough all around for Hanamiya to give up on deciphering them. A couple ones did seem rather strange, though.

The first thing he found that he could make something of was an extremely detailed sketch of some kind of school building, with a little doodle of Komatsu next to it, an arrow connecting her to the building with the text ‘ _home_ ’ written above.

The next page that didn’t look like it was written by either a small child, or a mentally unstable adult, seemed to resemble some kind of diary page. The handwriting was a lot cleaner than on most of the other ones, although the text itself unfortunately really didn’t make too much sense.

_Somehow everything seems a lot clearer here when your mind is clouded._

_I ate more, and I remembered. Not everything, but the most important part of it all…_

_If they don’t want me to remember, they’ll surely try to stop me. All I have to do is find the thief… and it’ll all be over._

_I took a knife from the kitchen, just in case. I don’t know what will happen to them if they die here… They may even try to cheat. This game isn’t fair, after all._

_To the me in the future… To the me in the real world… If I disappear, will the fool carry on?_

She did always enjoy speaking in riddles, didn’t she? Talk about cryptic…

“What was she on when she wrote these?” Hanamiya narrowed his eyes, Tsutsui peering over his shoulder to see which one he picked to read. Were the rest of them going to be like this as well? Were they even going to be able to figure anything out from something like _this_?

He breathed a quiet sigh. No, he should stop thinking like that and concentrate on the task at hand. If Komatsu really did take the knife - or rather, if the knife they found on her was the same one -, they still couldn’t be sure whether it was her or the culprit that ended up using it in the end. Concerning the rest of the writing, though… maybe it would be better to discuss it together with everyone else.

Tsutsui didn’t object when he folded up both of the papers and placed them in his pockets - he figured she wouldn’t. She wasn’t exactly the type to be opposed to prying into other people’s secrets and whatnot, so what did it matter at this point if they took anything from here?

Although he was sure some of his other classmates might have scolded him for it.

Before he could examine anything else, though, the monitors lit up, Kuroneko appearing by herself this time around. She turned her head a few times before she cleared her throat.

“Well… looks like my _loser_ of a colleague is nowhere to be found. Isn’t that unfortunate?”

There was no response for a few seconds before the top of Shironeko’s head appeared in the background as he grumbled under his breath.

“I’m here, I’m here… You could’ve at least waited for me, geez.”

“But there would be no fun in that!” Kuroneko shook her head. “And anyway, you should’ve known the time we were gonna start.”

“I would have had you told me!” Shironeko retorted, angrily leaping at the black cat to push it off the table she’s been standing on, pausing for a moment. “Anyway, you guys know the deal… Gather in front of the Mononeko statue and we’ll be right there.”

And with that, the monitors shut down again. Something about this particular announcement, though, seemed kind of odd. Not the fact that they switched out their lines for a change, but rather… something about the cats themselves.

Hanamiya barely noticed Tsutsui grabbing onto his arm, gently steering him outside as his thoughts wandered all over the place.

Come to think of it… they didn’t _really_ know what the cats were, did they? They were most likely robots, that much he could tell, but who was controlling them…? Surely, it couldn’t have been the same person…

Upon reaching the statue, he was first greeted by Minamoto for a change - that is, if her grabbing him by the shoulders to pull him aside counted as a greeting. She lowered her voice to a whisper, and it was obvious that she was trying to avoid being spotted by the cameras.

“Hanamiya-kun… after the trial, I need you to come with me and Sakurauchi-san.”

He blinked.

“What’s this about?”

Minamoto shushed him immediately, and he begrudgingly lowered his voice himself, albeit while rolling his eyes.

“Just tell me.”

Minamoto bit her lip.

“You’re good at imitating voices, right?”

Hanamiya breathed a small sigh, turning the question over in his head a few times.

“I guess… It’s not my main specialty, but I’m pretty okay. Why?”

Minamoto leaned closer.

“Sakurauchi-san and Fujinomiya-san found a manual for the robots. We wanna experiment with the keywords later, but we’ll need either you or a voice changer to imitate the other cat’s voice.”

Hanamiya held up one of his hands to stop her from continuing for a moment, feeling a little overwhelmed with her dumping all of that onto him at once. Keywords…? By ‘manual’, Minamoto was more than likely talking about the documents Sakurauchi had found, but that was about as much Hanamiya knew about the current situation. He was regretting not going with her to listen _just a little bit._

“What do you mean by ‘keyword’?” he raised a brow, and Minamoto frowned, visibly frustrated that she had a lot more to explain than she thought she did.

“From what I could tell… the robots are both controlled by a separate A.I.,” she started, fiddling with the end of her scarf slightly before dropping her hands again. “They can give each other keywords to make the other execute certain commands… you get?”

Hanamiya slowly nodded.

“Now… the white one’s A.I. is _really_ messy, according to Sakurauchi, so we should avoid doing any tests with that one… but the black one should be safe; its personality has been consistent for the most part. We’re going to lure it away after the trial, and test out if we can make it follow our commands, okay?”

“If we can do that…” Hanamiya’s gaze shifted towards the statue, “why not do it before the trial to stop them from holding it in the first place?”

Minamoto combed her fingers through her hair, shaking her head.

“There’s no command for that. Our options are pretty limited.”

Right, of course.

Was this just the mastermind toying with them again? Hanamiya honestly wouldn’t have been surprised. Either way, curiosity was going to kill him if they didn’t get to confirm Minamoto’s - or most likely Sakurauchi’s - theory, so he had no objections to giving it a shot… but they definitely had to be careful about this. He didn’t want to risk breaking a rule and getting himself killed in the process.

“If we’re going to do this…” he adjusted his glasses, “let’s do it at nighttime. The less people know about it, the better.”

Minamoto opened her mouth to question him, but he gestured for her to stop.

He was done taking chances. If there was _any_ risk of someone here messing this up for them by notifying one of the cats, he wasn’t going to let it happen. Three people should be more than enough for something like this, and there would be a lot less people wandering around at nighttime, if any.

If Nakajima knew about this, which he very well could have... he probably wasn't going to be one to spread the word.

Minamoto let out a small huff, but agreed to it in the end. She did seem to be quite the paranoid type herself, so there was a pretty good chance she got what he meant without him having to say it.

“Okay, nighttime it is. I’ll tell Sakurauchi-san to keep it a secret.”

Hanamiya nodded, and Minamoto walked off with a small wave, turning her head to see if she could spot Sakurauchi nearby. Hanamiya chose that point to zone out again, and before he knew it, everyone else had gathered around.

The trial, huh…

As much as he wanted to ignore reality, it was undeniable; one of his classmates had gone ahead and killed someone again. Not to mention the fact that this time around, there were two victims… that wouldn’t mean that there were two killers as well, would it? They wouldn’t be able to vote correctly, if that was the case…

Either way, his questions had to wait for now.

Boarding the elevator, the empty space was more noticeable than ever. Six people had died already… and after the trial, at least one more would follow.

He shivered a little. He’d have to watch another one of those messed up executions… The idea of getting used to these kinds of things made him feel sick to his stomach. This killing game… These circumstances weren’t normal; he couldn’t forget that. He _shouldn’t_ be able to forget that.

When the doors opened again, the sight of the courtroom only increased this unpleasant feeling of helplessness. He hesitated to lift his head, almost walking into someone else in the process, and seeing the new portraits didn’t exactly cheer him up either.

Natsume’s had a pair of snakes crossing out the picture; Hayama’s was a net, while Komatsu’s was a ballpoint pen and a ruler. How… unsightly.

He took a deep breath as he took his usual place, composing his expression to at least seem calm and composed on the outside.

Whoever was the culprit this time around… They were going to have to figure it out.

There was no more room for slip ups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _my chapters are getting shorter just like my life_


	15. Over and over

The trial seemed like it was going to start out the same as before - until Fujinomiya spoke up, that is.

“Uhm… w-what will we do if there are multiple killers?” she stuttered out, avoiding eye contact with everyone else, her eyes on Kuroneko alone. Hanamiya had been wondering about that himself. Would they have to split the votes, maybe…?

“Don’t worry about that,” Shironeko reassured them instead, shaking his head. “We wouldn’t allow for that to happen.”

“So the same person killed Hayama-san and Komatsu-san, then…?” Izumi wondered out loud - and of course, not only did he not get a straight response, he didn’t get one at all. Figures. It might’ve been better this way, in the end.

“Either way,” Sakurauchi tapped her chin, “when it comes to alibis, it should be easy this time, right? We _were_ split into pairs…”

Several people averted their eyes in shame, and Hanamiya sighed before he glanced at Kageyama then raised his hand.

“Kageyama-kun and I were locked almost the entire time, so I think it’s safe to say neither of us is the culprit. From your statement…” he tilted his head slightly, “I’m going to assume you and Fujinomiya-san stuck together the whole time as well.”

Sakurauchi nodded.

“What do you mean locked in?” Minamoto blinked, and Hanamiya combed his fingers through his hair.

“I meant what I said. The lock is on the outside, and someone had the bright idea of locking us in for a few hours.”

“Who did that anyway?” Kageyama turned his head, but nobody raised their hand to take responsibility.

Either it was someone with quite the _funny_ sense of humor, or… the culprit perhaps.

“Let’s just move on for now,” Hanamiya yawned. “We’ll figure it out later.”

Before Kageyama could argue, Izumi took the hint, taking it upon himself to resume the previous conversation.

“Tsutsui-san and I were together as well,” Izumi spoke, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Unless I’m mistaken, Nakajima-kun was in his room by himself the entire time… and Chiba-kun was paired with Hayama-san.”

“Oh, yeah… What happened with you guys?” Kageyama looked at Chiba, who’d just been standing silently up until now, and only raised his head once he was addressed. He seemed… composed for a change, but Hanamiya didn’t miss the way he’d been clenching his fists.

“I went to the pool to investigate by myself. Hayama didn’t seem like she would’ve been comfortable with the whole thing,” Chiba started, pausing for a moment as he let his hands relax before crossing his arms. “When I came out, she was just gone. I ran around the place for a while, looking for her.”

“You didn’t find her before she died?”

“…No,” Chiba shook his head with a slightly more bitter expression. “My best guess is either the culprit or… Komatsu found her. She would’ve said something if she wanted to go off by herself.”

Right, makes sense.

“Ah, uhm…” Takahashi interrupted carefully, glancing at Minamoto. “Minamoto-san and I split up at one point as well.”

“You too?” Izumi sighed, putting on the _disappointed mother_ voice. Takahashi shrank a little.

“Minamoto-san seemed to be feeling sick, so she told me to continue without her…” Takahashi fidgeted, hoping for Minamoto to back him up. The girl seemed a little flustered, however - hiding behind her scarf, she gave a small nod.

“Sick?” Sakurauchi echoed. “Minamoto-san, did you manage to get medicine for it?”

“I- I got what I needed, and that’s all that matters,” Minamoto quickly let go of the fabric to flail her hands a little, clearly eager to drop the topic already.

Kageyama opened his mouth to inquire further until Tsutsui cut him off.

“If Minamoto-chan says that it’s fine, then it’s fine. Let’s focus on the more important matters for now.”

Tsutsui sounded like she knew what was going on - Minamoto must’ve told her. If Tsutsui knew, but Takahashi didn’t…

 _Oh_.

“So the ones without an alibi are Nakajima-kun, Minamoto-san, Takahashi-kun and Chiba-kun,” Hanamiya listed them off, sending Kageyama a meaningful look. He really didn’t feel like getting stuck in the middle of a catfight.

“Neither file has a time or cause of death listed… This is troubling,” Izumi hummed before lifting his gaze from the tablet. “What about a murder weapon?”

“Takahashi found a knife underneath Komatsu’s clothes,” Nakajima took the lead this time, resuming before he could be interrupted by about half the people present. “No unnecessary comments are needed. The knife had blood on it, and considering both of the pair had stab wounds, unless any of you have something better to offer, I think it’s safe to assume the knife was used for that.”

Fujinomiya raised her hand.

“Hanamiya-kun found a bloody vase in the concert hall… I think.”

“You _think-_ “

“I did, yeah,” Hanamiya swiftly cut Nakajima off to prevent him from going off on Fujinomiya, tilting his head. “It was in the trash, by the way. Pretty solid, too; it didn’t look like it could break easily.”

“Komatsu-san suffered blunt force trauma to her head, didn’t she? If the culprit hit her with that, I think it would be enough to knock her out, if not kill her instantly,” Izumi suggested, only for Takahashi to fiddle with his headphones as he brought up another point.

“But why would the culprit try to hide one weapon so far away from another one? The knife was a lot easier to find.”

“The hit to her head couldn’t have killed her instantly, right? Unless she was stabbed first, that is,” Sakurauchi frowned, tugging on her hat. “And why was Hayama-san so much more injured than Komatsu-san?”

Fujinomiya opened her mouth, hesitating to speak up for a few seconds before she cleared her throat.

“I’m more curious about why the culprit killed two people this time around… I mean,” she adjusted her glasses, shyly making eye contact, “it’d only give us more clues to work with, right?”

“Maybe one of the murders was unintentional,” Tsutsui raised one of her arms to gather attention. “It could be that one of the girls caught the culprit in the act, and they had to kill her to prevent her from telling anyone else.”

“Or maybe…” Nakajima bit his lip. “Maybe they weren’t killed by the same person after all.”

“Were you even listening?” Chiba’s expression shifted into a more incredulous one as he placed his hands on his hips. “The cats said-“

“The cats didn’t explicitly _say_ that they were killed by the same person, if you recall,” Nakajima shot him a glare, annoyed by his attitude. “They just said there weren’t multiple killers.”

“If there are two victims but there can’t be multiple killers, then obviously they were killed by the same person,” Chiba stubbornly insisted, causing Hanamiya to furrow his brows. If the culprit only killed one of the girls… and there weren’t multiple culprits…

He raised his hand a little too fast.

“What if one of them wasn’t killed by anyone?”

“Yeah, she just dropped dead on her own,” Minamoto mumbled, Hanamiya making a point to ignore her muttering.

“Ah,” Izumi snapped his fingers, as though suddenly realising something. “It’s the bracelet, isn’t it?”

“The bracelet…?” Fujinomiya’s eyes widened.

“She must’ve died from electrocution,” Nakajima nodded, confirming Izumi’s theory. “She had burns on her wrist, remember? Getting a powerful shock there has a pretty good chance of stopping your heart.”

“The states of the bodies _was_ quite different…” Izumi pulled up the tablet again. “Hayama-san’s file makes it sound like she was tortured…”

Chiba winced.

“…But then again, it is very much possible that she died before the injuries were inflicted on her. They did divert our attention from her cause of death, if she ended up being killed by the shock.”

“Wouldn’t that mean those two killed her?” grasping onto the podium tightly with one hand, Chiba pointed at the two cats on the side, almost shaking in anger. Oh, dear… “Is that even allowed?”

“Of course _we_ didn’t kill her!” Kuroneko huffed, as though upset by the mere thought of being accused in such a way. “The bracelet did, silly child. It wasn’t even programmed by us, so we had nothing to do with this!”

Grinding his teeth, Chiba lowered his hand.

“If she did die from electrocution… Do you think her wounds might have been from Komatsu-san…?” Takahashi paled a little, as though he’d just unintentionally imagined it.

“It… would make sense, wouldn’t it…?” Kageyama crossed his arms. “She got the door open, right? Since she couldn’t find Nakajima, she must’ve gone after Hayama again. The way the bodies were hung up was pretty weird… and there really was no reason for it, was there? What if she hung up Hayama first, then the culprit tried to imitate the murder to make it seem like they were both killed by the same person?”

“The writing on the floor _would_ suggest that, wouldn’t it?” Hanamiya half-mumbled, recalling it in his head. Upon seeing several confused looks thrown his way, he sighed. “Remember that huge puddle of blood on the floor? There was some writing in the middle of it.”

“’ _Thief_ ’, right?” Minamoto seemed oddly nervous about finally getting to contribute, and when Hanamiya nodded, she breathed a subtle sigh of relief. “She had blood on her hands too… She must’ve been the one who wrote it.”

“So Komatsu-san found Hayama-san on the second floor, then chased her all the way to the planetarium. I think… judging by the severity of her wounds, if she died from the shock, they must’ve been inflicted once she was already dead,” Fujinomiya swallowed anxiously. “She would’ve died from blood loss otherwise.”

“Then Komatsu-san hung her up…”

“…If the culprit was trying to imitate Hayama’s state,” Chiba took a deep breath, “that means Komatsu’s real cause of death could be the blunt force trauma. She was hit with the vase, then the culprit stabbed her in the abdomen afterwards, hiding the knife in her clothes.”

“Even if she didn’t die from it, it’s clear that the vase caused that wound on her head,” Tsutsui nodded. “Speaking of which, why was the vase in the concert hall of all places? I recall the planetarium having a trash can as well.”

“Uhm, that vase…” Fujinomiya spoke up again, “that vase is from the concert hall originally. I remember seeing it before.”

“So they took the vase from the concert hall, brought it to the planetarium, then took it back? Seems kinda troublesome…” Kageyama frowned.

“I don’t think they’d want to risk getting spotted either,” Sakurauchi agreed, only for Hanamiya to cross his arms.

“I’m betting Komatsu was killed in the concert hall, and that’s why Kageyama-kun and I were locked inside.”

“Oh, yeah, come to think of it… the floor was wet, wasn’t it?” Kageyama’s eyes widened with realisation, and he looked to Hanamiya for confirmation.

“Duh, the fire alarm went off,” Minamoto’s expression was one of pure confusion, but Kageyama shook his head.

“Fujinomiya said there are no sprinklers in the room. _I_ think the culprit found Komatsu after she was done with Hayama, chased her all the way over to the concert hall, then locked us inside at the last minute to avoid being spotted.”

“They smashed her over the head with the vase before hiding it in the trash, and cleaned the blood off the floor afterwards,” Hanamiya finished his thought process, Kageyama nodding his head repeatedly. “That’s why the floor was wet.”

“I still can’t believe none of you saw anything…” Nakajima shook his head in disbelief. “Kageyama and Hanamiya aside, weren’t Izumi and Tsutsui also supposed to be searching the third floor?”

“Ahh, we moved down to the first floor after a while. Takahashi-chan came running to us about Minamoto-chan’s case,” Tsutsui tilted her head. “We came across Chiba-chan at one point as well, so the third and second floors must’ve been nearly empty at that point.”

Right.

“If all these people were on the first floor, did any of you see the culprit take the knife? I don’t think any room other than the kitchen had any…” Sakurauchi asked, and something flashed in Tsutsui’s eyes as she quickly turned to Hanamiya.

He got the hint pretty fast, and reached into his pocket.

“Tsutsui-san and I searched Komatsu-san’s room, actually, and according to whatever this is, she was the one who took the knife way earlier.”

He held up one of the pieces of paper for everyone to see, the ones closest to him leaning forward to read it themselves.

“Do we know that was written by her…?” Minamoto narrowed her eyes, and Hanamiya reached into his pocket again.

“Pretty sure it was,” he held up the second sheet. “Her room was full of these, and while the handwriting was a little inconsistent, it wasn’t drastic enough to have been written by someone else.”

“What am I reading…?” Minamoto sighed, giving up on trying to make sense of Komatsu’s writing and shrugging her shoulders instead. Hanamiya could sympathize. “So she took the knife then.”

“Yeah.”

“Do we still have no idea who took her medicine?”

Hanamiya glanced around the room, but was met by stares just as curious as his.

“Couldn’t she have just lost it?” Chiba rolled his eyes, but Hanamiya found that hard to believe. She wouldn’t lose something _that_ important, and even if she had, at least one of them would’ve seen it while they were searching the ship. And yet, none of them seem like they knew anything about it…

There were three options.

One: she really did lose it, and there was no reason for them to be having this debate.

Two: the thief was unwilling to confess to it, either because they felt guilty about Hayama’s and Komatsu’s deaths, or because the thief was the culprit, and it’d give that away somehow.

Three: it was the mastermind.

Should he bring that up…? The cats said they wouldn’t take it, and while they really had no reason to believe them about anything, they _have_ been pretty honest up until now. But even if they were telling the truth this time around as well, the mastermind could have found another way to hide it from Komatsu themselves. They had plenty of motives; provoking her into murder was just one of the reasons on the long list it could be.

But then again… even if it was the mastermind, he had no way of proving it. There was no point in bringing up a theory if he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere with it.

“…Okay, well… we’ve deduced all that, but it didn’t get us any closer to the killer, did it?” Chiba let out a deep sigh.

“Did you find anything in Hayama-chan’s room?” Tsutsui turned to Minamoto, but she shook her head.

“There’s no chance that she’s the culprit and she’s just lying about it, is there?” Chiba mumbled under his breath, Minamoto sending him a nasty glare. She did keep silent, though - she couldn’t exactly argue with that.

“Actually, we still have stuff we don’t know about, don’t we?” Sakurauchi tilted her head. “Why did the fire alarm go off in the first place?”

“The stove in the kitchen was pretty badly burnt. The culprit probably set it off on purpose,” Izumi winced a little upon remembering it. “I’ll assume to divert attention from the wet floor in the concert hall.”

Actually…

“…I don’t think that’s everything there is to it,” Nakajima finished Hanamiya’s thought process, the latter raising a brow in his direction. Alright, he could just let him speak. “If Hayama was already dead by the time Komatsu inflicted those injuries on her, that means she was lying on the ground. That’d explain why Komatsu didn’t have much blood on her apart from her own wounds.”

“Ahh, but the culprit must have gotten some blood on themselves after they killed Komatsu-chan and hung her up as well,” Tsutsui clasped her hands together for a moment. “If blood got on their clothes, they’d need to either wash it out or at least change clothes before seen by someone else.”

“They didn’t just stand underneath the sprinklers, right? I doubt that’d be enough…” Takahashi’s voice trailed off, and Chiba’s hand shot up so fast it caused Sakurauchi next to him to let out the tiniest shriek.

“I reckon they washed it out at the pool. The first floor was crowded, so risking being spotted there would be a bad idea.”

“There was blood in the water, wasn’t there?” Kageyama recalled, Hanamiya nodding along.

“If they were going to trigger the fire alarm regardless, it’d give them a good explanation for being soaked…” he adjusted his glasses, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Standing straight was already getting harder. Just a little more; he can take it… “They could have changed clothes, but it’d take a while to dry their hair.”

“The sprinklers went off after the body discovery announcement,” Chiba closed his eyes for a few seconds to try to remember better, nodding once he was sure of it. “And not immediately either. So everyone who was dry before that is off the suspect list.”

Now, the only question was… who _was_ seen right after the body discovery announcement, but before the sprinklers had gone off? The ones without an alibi were Chiba, Nakajima, Minamoto and Takahashi. If any of them were dry…

“Nakajima-chan left his room almost immediately after the announcement, and he was completely dry,” Tsutsui said, Nakajima subtly relaxing a little. Three left.

“We saw Chiba-kun too, didn’t we?” Izumi added, and Tsutsui nodded quickly, Chiba not even bothering to comment on it. He drew his hands back from the podium, letting his arms hang by his sides instead. If Hanamiya had to be honest, he didn’t really blame him. The killer of his friend turned out to be dead… he was probably upset that the whole thing happened behind his back.

“Minamoto left her room soon after me, I believe,” Nakajima stated, pursing his lips. All eyes turned to Takahashi, and he blinked.

“…Me?”

Something in Hanamiya’s memory clicked.

“Takahashi-kun…” he leaned onto the podium to hold himself up better, his grip tightening slightly. “When I was searching the storage with Kageyama-kun, the door was already closed, and we weren’t being particularly loud. We _did_ hear some kind of commotion, but it was quite muffled and hard to pick up on.”

Not to mention the fact that he didn’t recall coming across anyone when they walked in there.

“You have remarkable hearing, don’t you?” he looked him straight in the eyes, waiting for a response. “With your talent and all…”

Fujinomiya’s talent may have enabled her to pick out sounds better as well… but she did have an alibi.

“Aside from that… The bodies were hanging from a bar that had to be lowered, as I recall,” he paused for a moment to remember it properly. “The room was dim enough that it was extremely hard to see unless you let your eyes get used to the dark… and yet, you immediately knew where to find the control panel.”

Takahashi didn’t even have to respond; his body language said enough. He averted his gaze, nervously fiddling with the bottom of his jacket, not saying a word. Hanamiya’s gaze didn’t leave him.

“Takahashi-kun, did you kill Komatsu-san?”

A single nod was all it took for Hanamiya to be certain.

He wasn’t sure if he was expecting someone to object; Takahashi seemed to be generally likeable among his classmates, but he himself never really paid too much attention to the boy. But even if he _had_ been expecting someone to speak up, it wouldn’t have been Minamoto.

“That’s… wrong, right? Takahashi-kun didn’t do anything, right?”

The same girl who had no problem accusing anyone before was now gripping her scarf anxiously, her gaze shifting between Hanamiya and Takahashi with wide eyes, as though having trouble properly processing what she was hearing.

The same girl who said Izumi would have been a likely suspect in Yokoyama’s case because they were close, the same girl who seemed to have no trouble expecting the worst from people… She looked _so_ desperate, wishing to be proven wrong so, _so_ much.

But alas, Takahashi remained silent.

Minamoto dropped her hands.

“You… know you’re not just supposed to take accusations like that, right? You’re not supposed to let people badmouth you like that…”

She took a step back, starting to walk in the taller boy’s direction with her hands clenched in fists, but Kageyama stood in his way, not letting her past him.

Kageyama, who was about as laidback as it could get when it came to letting people do what they want, now carefully took ahold of her shoulders, holding her in place. His tone wasn’t accusatory or even upset, and the uncharacteristically serious expression caused Minamoto to stop dead in her tracks.

“Please don’t make this harder for anybody.”

Maybe he had a good idea of what she was thinking; he was the only other person here who had to watch an actual _friend_ get executed.

Minamoto lifted her ever so slightly trembling hands to grasp Kageyama’s wrists, weakly pushing his hands away as he slowly returned to her place, not saying another word.

Kageyama exhaled.

“Takahashi-chan… you arrived once Hayama-chan was already dead, didn’t you?” Tsutsui broke the silence, clutching her phone nervously. Takahashi looked up once more, nodding his head.

“I… f-figured I should see if there was anyone else nearby. The planetarium was the room closest to the stairs…”

He swallowed audibly, closing his eyes, visibly pale.

“There was… _so much blood_ … and she was just sitting in the middle of it all, not caring in the slightest.”

He took a shaky breath.

“The knife was still in her hand, and… I just…”

Minamoto lifted her head.

“You… you killed her, Takahashi-kun…? Is that what you did? Even if you think she deserved it, something like that… that’s inexcusable…”

She choked back a tiny sob, wiping her eyes with the end of her sleeve.

“And you tried to cover it up, knowing full well that it might get the rest of us killed. Is that… Is that all my feelings were worth to you?”

Her voice shook slightly and she tilted her head with a shaky smile, tears dripping down her cheeks one after another.

“You were the first friend I ever made.”

Takahashi looked _so_ guilty standing there, but Hanamiya knew it wasn’t his place to try to defend him, much less attack him even more, so he kept silent even when the boy opened his mouth without a sound coming out.

* * *

 

_As Takahashi stepped inside the room, he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Maybe more people to send to Minamoto’s aid…? No, she’d surely scold him if he were to make a big deal of it. She seemed so flustered too when she tried to explain it and he still didn’t understand it._

_The first thing that caught his eye was the person crouching in the middle of the room, hugging her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as she stared at nothing in particular. The floor was sticky with blood, but she looked as removed from reality as ever, humming to herself softly, a knife held loosely in one of her hands. When she noticed the boy, she stood up, flashing him a tired smile, dropping the knife in the process._

_“It’s okay, Takahashi-tan. Yui-tan was just fulfilling her wish, you see.”_

_He could barely feel the floor underneath him as he spoke, a sudden wave of dizziness washing over him. She wasn’t bothered by his reaction in the slightest, though._

_“Yui-tan…” she paused, correcting herself. “No, that’s not right…_ I _remembered why we’re all in this place, you see. At last, I finally remembered.”_

_She took a step towards him, her bell chiming quietly._

_“This killing game… It’s a second chance that was given to us all. Don’t you want to be happy? You should use it wisely, if your answer to that is a yes. After all, it seems… I have already lost that chance.”_

_Takahashi shivered._

* * *

 

What could they even say to this? What Minamoto said about covering the crime up… all of that was true. They couldn’t argue with that; there was no use trying to defend Takahashi now.

Chiba looked like he wanted to speak up, but held back instead - for whose sake, Hanamiya wasn’t sure, but the way he silently slammed his fist onto the podium was telling enough. Takahashi’s own voice shook, although it was just barely above a whisper - somehow, this was hard to listen to.

“ _I don’t want to die_ …”

Hanamiya wanted to cover his ears and close his eyes until all of this was over so he wouldn’t have to replay the scene over and over again afterwards, but he knew he couldn’t do that. That would be unfair. It would be unfair to the ones who had to die to ignore their pain to ease his own burden. He didn’t have the strength to do something like that…

“Oho? Can we get to the voting already?” Kuroneko clasped her paws together, leaving an even more bitter taste in Hanamiya’s mouth. The majority of the group nodded one after another.

In the case of Natsume… it was next to no effort to just pick him and move on, as disturbing as the idea of another punishment was. But for Takahashi… it was almost painful.

Nevertheless, Hanamiya steeled himself as he selected him as the culprit, waiting with his gaze on the floor afterwards.

He didn’t need to look to know that they were correct.

Kuroneko yawned.

“Ahh, finally… Took you kids quite a while, huh? Shironeko, if you will.”

She lifted her scepter, knocking on the floor with it once, Shironeko shifting around on his throne until he was sitting properly.

“Right…! We’ve prepared a very special punishment for Takahashi Yuki, the Super High School Level Violinist…”

He raised one of his arms, Kuroneko waving her scepter around.

“At last, it’s punishment time!”

Shironeko’s paw slammed down onto the button on the armrest of his throne.

* * *

 

He can't see and it's _honest to god terrifying_ , so he shuts his eyes so he can deal better with the darkness. He's lying on some kind of table, that much he can tell - leather straps are stopping him from moving his limbs or sitting up, and the room he's in is pitch black.

Suddenly, the lights turn on, and he can just barely open his eyes without being blinded by the brightness. He can't move his head, but he knows he's on some kind of stage, and there's a tall, wooden wall both behind his head and in front of his feet. There's a large robotic saw placed on top of them, ready to start moving any second.

There's music. He spots Kuroneko holding a viola from the corner of his eye, and she's already playing, the sound grating to his ears. The more she plays, the more the saw descends, seemingly in tune with the melody, if it can even be called that. Sweat rolls down the back of his neck as he tenses up more and more, his nails digging into his palms, and his eyes close at the last second.

* * *

**Survivors: 9**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay im a lot more satisfied w this case than the previous one jfc :0c


	16. Risen and fallen

The fourth floor…

It took much longer to explore than Hanamiya thought it would, although the cause of that was Hanamiya himself, as he knew full well. It was rather hard to get everything that happened out of his head even temporarily, and he barely reacted when Kageyama attempted to be reassuring by giving his back a small pat.

As for the floor itself… The closest rooms to the staircase were a flower shop, and what appeared to be a theater with its own storage. Hanamiya was not at all willing to go that far inside, recalling the last time he walked into a storage and ended up unintentionally spending quite a large amount of time there, so he left to go check the next room instead.

It was… unnerving, to say the least.

The walls were all pure white, lined with empty picture frames, and the only other piece of furniture inside was a small dresser standing next to the wall. There was a piece of paper placed on top of it.

‘ _Look forward to the upcoming Mononeko exhibition!_ ’

Mononeko was also the name of the statue on the first floor, wasn’t it? It was at least the way Shironeko had referred to it. That would mean that this place could soon be filled with pictures of the stuffed animals…

How _lovely_.

Apart from the aforementioned, there also seemed to be a café, a clothes store, and, to no one’s surprise, a bar packed with alcohol. They’d already found some in the kitchen, so it was somewhat to be expected that they could have more stored away somewhere, but the only person willing to even try the stuff was Chiba, so nobody was all that concerned about it.

The thing that worried Hanamiya the most right now, though, was their plans for the night.

Sakurauchi seemed to be hanging in there relatively alright - Minamoto, on the other hand, was a wreck. Takahashi’s headphones had been left behind, fallen off right before he was executed, and she’d been cradling them in her arms, outstandingly unresponsive each time her name was called. Hanamiya really didn’t know what to do with her.

They needed someone who could read difficult text like that… but the only other person who was capable of that could be also startlingly uncooperative at times.

It wasn’t like they had a choice this time, so Hanamiya figured he should at least try to ask anyway, and the first reaction he got was pretty much the exact one he expected.

“No.”

“I presume you know how important this is…” Hanamiya sighed, lazily adjusting his glasses as he stared at the boy with clear disapproval in his eyes. Not even he’d ditch out on something like this, and that was saying something.

Nakajima opened his mouth before closing it again, shaking his head lightly right after.

“No, you don’t get it. I’m not refusing because I don’t _want_ to do it.”

Turning his head ever so slightly to the side to avoid eye contact, he shoved his hands in his pockets, paying no mind to the people walking by who were wondering what they were whispering about.

“I’m… not good with technology. Even if I can read it, I’ll have no clue what it means.”

“We have Sakurauchi-san for that,” Hanamiya made sure to remind him, staring at him quite intently as though it would increase the chances of him agreeing to the plan. “Minamoto-san is… out of it, so you’re the only person we can ask. You can just read it out for her, and she can translate it into _regular human speech_.”

Nakajima bit his lip. Hanamiya had never shown himself to be a stubborn type - sure, he had certain _thoughts_ that he was unwilling to budge on no matter what, but his actions so far had been of a weak-willed pushover, letting himself get drag around without too much resistance. That was precisely why he had to stand his ground now; to break down any misconceptions before they could even be made.

“…You’re _sure_ this won’t get us into trouble…?” Nakajima ended up saying, looking defeated enough. Hanamiya shrugged.

“I don’t see how it would. We’ll just be talking.”

“Right…” Nakajima lifted a hand to massage one of his temples briefly, expression rather tired - possibly upon realising that neither of them would be getting much sleep at night. Hanamiya was only hoping he wouldn’t pass out at any point - he’d already made sure to take a short nap beforehand, so hopefully that’d prove to be enough. “So… when are we meeting and where?”

“Let’s go up to the second floor at around midnight… The library would work, yeah?”

As much as acknowledging that he’d need to climb stairs in his sleepy state made him feel exhausted, Hanamiya would have preferred to be far away from everyone else, unable to help feeling a little paranoid.

In the end, Nakajima gave a small nod, dropping his hand again with a sigh.

“Ahh, alright… But if you oversleep I won’t drag you over there.”

Hanamiya was almost completely certain there would be no need for that.

* * *

 

He’d drunk _so_ much coffee, he was pretty sure he was risking a heart attack at this point. On the brighter side, at least he seemed to be awake… for the most part.

Hanamiya had to admit he himself wasn’t the smartest with technology, and he zoned out several times as Sakurauchi and Nakajima went over the text, Sakurauchi rambling on and on as she explained what each section meant. From what Hanamiya understood… or rather, heard from the conversation - as everything else went in one ear and out the other -, all he’d have to do was pass the voice recognition software Kuroneko had been equipped with. He _had_ always prided himself on having quite the repertoire when it came to changing his voice… so hopefully he could manage to imitate Shironeko’s robotic tone enough to be able to pull this off.

“See this…” Sakurauchi pointed out a specific part, Hanamiya blinking at it tiredly. “This part is pretty simple. If you use the keyword ‘question’, the A.I. will be forced to answer anything you ask of it. You only have to say the keyword right, so don’t worry about keeping in character the entire time, okay?”

That sounded simple enough indeed.

As for how to catch the attention of the cats… that didn’t seem like it was going to be too hard either.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Sakurauchi shouted at the top of her lungs, the other two covering their ears tightly with pained expressions at the sudden, piercing noise, sending each other sympathetic looks.

“Kuroneko-san!”

Enunciating each syllable very carefully, Sakurauchi continued.

“Could you come talk to us? It’s pretty urgent!”

When she received no response, she got even louder, only to add to the boys’ growing discomfort.

“I won’t stop yelling until I get a reply, you know!”

After that, it only took a few seconds for Kuroneko to drop out of the ceiling, wearing some kind of sleeping hat and hugging a pillow to herself. She didn’t look very pleased, but they didn’t need to concern themselves with that anyway.

“Geez, what are you little twerps doing out at this time of the night!? Can a feline not even get her well-deserved beauty sleep?”

Sakurauchi looked to Hanamiya to signal that he could start, and he cleared his throat, closing his eyes to make sure he was as focused as possible.

He took a deep breath.

“ _Freeze._ ”

As soon as he said the word, Kuroneko stopped moving, the pillow falling to the ground as she stood completely motionless this time around. Hanamiya let out a relieved sigh. Getting her to stop moving in time was pretty much the part he’d been the most worried about, but apparently that had been for nothing… fortunately.

Now all they could do was continue like this and hope that Shironeko was too occupied to show up as well.

“What now?” Hanamiya looked to Sakurauchi for any instructions, but Nakajima was the one who replied faster.

“I want to know how Komatsu got the door open …” he rubbed his chin slowly, sharp eyes scanning every inch of the robot now that it had gone still. “That’s a simple enough question, try that first.”

Hanamiya wasn’t in the mood to argue, so all he did was nod.

“ _Question:_ how did Komatsu Yui get into the room with your nameplate on it?”

He figured he might as well be as specific as possible to avoid having to repeat himself every time. Kuroneko responded without hesitation, her tone completely flat this time around, resembling that of a text-to-speech program much more than before.

“She had threatened the very nature of this killing game. I had no choice but to let her pass to avoid breaking protocol.”

With short answers like that… this whole thing might take a while.

Hanamiya closed his eyes again.

“ _Question:_ how did Komatsu Yui threaten the nature of the killing game?”

He hated having to speak in longer sentences than usual, but there wasn’t much he could do.

“She had obtained crucial information that I could not afford to let her spread. As such, I had to comply with her demands.”

Hanamiya recalled the messy notes he’d found in Komatsu’s room with Tsutsui, and he already had a vague idea of what this might be about. Feeling himself grow a bit tense and wiping his hands on his pants, he reached for his glasses, hoping the familiar, repetitive motion of wiping the lens would calm him down.

It took him a moment to find the best way to phrase his next inquiry.

“ _Question:_ what kind of information did Komatsu Yui obtain and how?”

He almost held his breath for a moment.

“The mind-altering substances she had been consuming caused her to suffer from hallucinations,” Kuroneko started, this time offering a lengthier response for a change. “It seemed as though these hallucinations had triggered certain parts of her lost memories to resurface. To put it simply, she had uncovered the reason you all were brought here, although she did not seem to be aware of the identity of the masters.”

Her lost memories…?

It really was true then… the fact that they were all missing memories of some kind. Would they be able to figure out what that was all about now…? The mere idea of something like that made Hanamiya feel uneasy, but he couldn’t just cover his ears and hide now.

“ _Question:_ what are the memories we’ve lost?”

Kuroneko remained silent for a few seconds, before her red eye flashed a couple of times.

“Error: answering the question is prohibited.”

“Geez…” Sakurauchi’s head dropped onto the table she’d been sitting by as she groaned. “I thought we were finally getting somewhere…”

“No, this is good enough.”

They both turned to Nakajima, who seemed to be deep in thought, eyes narrowing as he mumbled under his breath for a few seconds before addressing them once again.

“Hanamiya, you said Komatsu’s room was full of her writing, right?”

He waited for Hanamiya to nod before he continued.

“I’m sure if we look through them carefully enough we’ll find plenty of hints,” he leaned back in his seat, his posture relaxing more and more. “I’ll go gather them once we’re done with this and do a thorough check.”

That didn’t actually sound half bad; Hanamiya nodded right away.

That was one thing out of the way, then…

The questioning was resumed, and it took them quite a while to exhaust all the options they had. They couldn’t get anything out of Kuroneko about the ‘masters’ she mentioned - but judging by the title, they were either her overseers, or… perhaps the ones behind the killing game.

There was one thing in particular that caused Hanamiya to freeze up, however; one answer that he didn’t expect to hear.

“The killing game is being broadcasted on several major sites online. According to the data I possess, it appears to be a rather popular watch worldwide.”

 _That could mean anything, really;_ Hanamiya tried his best to reason with himself to not freak out too much about it, even if the majority of it wouldn’t have been voiced. Somehow, the cameras the entire ship was full of seemed much more sinister now.

People could have easily thought the killing game was fake - or even if it wasn’t, there was no reason for something like views to count as positive feedback.

Yeah… that’s right. The world wouldn’t let them all die so easily. People could be cruel, but not to this extent.

That must’ve meant that their location was unknown to everyone else as well… not that that was something he’d ever doubted before. They _were_ out in the middle of the sea, after all.

Once they’d acknowledged this, however, they finally reached a dead end, and they turned back to the manual in hopes of new ideas.

Most of the other commands seemed to have simple, entertaining purposes - they could make Kuroneko move around in all sorts of weird ways, including moonwalking, and there were several keywords that elicited some kind of peculiar, catlike noise, one of them being purring.

They were all pretty harmless options… except for the one at the bottom.

They raised their heads in unison, glancing between each other multiple times silently. No words were needed at the start; Hanamiya knew they were all wondering whether this would work, and if it did… if it would count as a violation of the rules.

But upon being asked, Kuroneko confirmed their hopeful suspicions.

They were free to use it on the robot.

Hanamiya steadied his hands in his lap, sitting with his back as straight as possible to make sure he didn’t mess up a single syllable, and he spoke.

“ _Self-destruct._ ”

The glow in Kuroneko’s red eye steadily grew, and as a steady beeping sound came from her speakers, the trio had just enough time to trip over themselves and rush as far as possible before the robot’s controls went haywire, sparks of electricity surrounding it before it promptly short-circuited, the head detaching from the body and landing on the floor with a dull thud.

Hanamiya swallowed.

_Holy shit._

* * *

 

The explanation turned out much, much harder to pull off than Hanamiya ever thought it would, and he thanked the heavens that he managed to miss a good chunk of it, thanks to the missing morning announcement. It was no surprise that it didn’t play this time around, with Kuroneko gone and all. Shironeko appeared to have gone missing as well… which, while peculiar, was mostly reassuring, considering how worried everyone seemed about having to deal with him now.

Nakajima had tried his best to ditch the meeting, obviously, only for Chiba to drag him back by his hood and keeping him from sneaking away again. He’d kept his promise to gather all of Komatsu’s papers, although he hadn’t had the time to look them over properly just yet, especially with the questioning going on.

When Minamoto still hadn’t shown up, Sakurauchi ran off to check up on her with a rather serious expression, obviously concerned about her wellbeing, while Nakajima finally freed himself from Chiba’s grasp, wanting to excuse himself so he could leave and finally get some information, only to be stopped by Tsutsui this time around.

That was the point Hanamiya proceeded to tune out everyone else, walking off towards his room in a sleepy daze, wishing to get some sleep.

Once he was back to being relatively well-rested, he might join Nakajima to help him out with the texts, but until then, he would probably just get in the way. He could barely count to ten in his current state.

As he stifled a yawn, stepping into his room and turning around to close the door, he didn’t miss the curious looks Kageyama threw his way, no doubt eager to interrogate him more and more. He frowned in annoyance at the thought of it, Kageyama snickering at his played up reaction before he proceeded to finally shut the door.

* * *

 

Repeatedly knocking on Minamoto’s door, Sakurauchi finally perked up when it opened slightly, Minamoto peering outside hesitantly while clinging to the doorframe.

“What…?”

“Minamoto-san, it won’t be good for you if you stay in there all day long cooped up by yourself,” Sakurauchi leaned closer, Minamoto instinctively taking a step back as she averted her gaze.

“As if you really care… We barely even talked.”

Grasping one of her long braids she clutched it tightly as she pursed her lips, avoiding eye contact at all costs. She must’ve still been upset about the previous day. It was understandable, but… Sakurauchi knew acting like this would lead to nowhere.

“The only one who really cared was Takahashi-kun…” her voice trembled for a moment, and she reached up to wipe her eyes. “But it turns out he didn’t really, after all. Funny how that works, huh?”

What could she even say to that? It wasn’t like they _had_ talked that much, so she couldn’t really argue with that…

“What about… Tsutsui-san? I did see you two chatting a couple of times…”

Minamoto let out a dry laugh.

“She was just doing it out of sympathy. She doesn’t… really like me, you know. Nobody here does.”

Sakurauchi opened her mouth to argue, but somehow, she couldn’t quite go through with it. _I like you_ ; wouldn’t that just be an empty sentiment? She didn’t dislike Minamoto, per se, even though she could be a little mean-spirited sometimes, but she couldn’t call her her friend either.

And yet… the way she was talking felt wrong, somehow. Sakurauchi felt as though she should be able to counter it if she just thought about it hard enough, but the answer was escaping her.

Maybe… it might be the best for now if she could just get her to be around people again.

She took a hold of her hand, gently pulling her outside. Minamoto didn’t resist much, not having the energy or the motivation to do so, simply standing around while staring at the floor.

Ahh, this might be a bit too difficult to solve…

* * *

 

When Tsutsui insisted for him to stay and chat with Fujinomiya in the cafeteria, Nakajima’s immediate response was a no, and Fujinomiya’s nerves skyrocketed right away. She wasn’t even sure why Tsutsui picked her of all people - sure, she tried her best to be about as polite as possible, and she wasn’t exactly noisy, but couldn’t Tsutsui see how anxious she got around people like Nakajima? A blunt, harsh attitude like that… Hanamiya kept most of it to himself, so he was quite easy to handle, but every possible insult Fujinomiya could imagine Nakajima saying had already shattered what was left of her self-esteem into a billion pieces.

Then again… it would be honestly pretty pathetic if she were to back down straight away, wouldn’t it?

That was precisely the reason why when he walked off by himself in the direction of the stairs, she rushed to catch up with him after a brief moment of hesitation, almost tripping and falling on her face in the process.

Oh dear, better be careful… Glasses could leave some pretty bad marks if she were to collide face-first with something.

“Nakajima-kun…!”

He turned around just in time to dodge her crashing into him, and she steadied herself by leaning against the wall, a little wobbly on her feet.

These glasses were ridiculously hard to see with…

She’d prepared herself to have this talk, however, and before Nakajima could even get a word in, she took a small bow, nervously fidgeting with her hands so fast a few faint scratch marks were left on her hands by her long nails.

“U-uhm, you see…” she swallowed nervously, trying to get her voice to stop shaking. “I think i-if Tsutsui-san put time and effort into… setting this up, giving it a go is the least w-we could do…!”

She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, finally raising her gaze to look at him properly, her hands ceasing the nervous habit to move onto the next one by tugging on her sleeves.

Nakajima let out a sigh.

“I hate to break this to you, but not everyone is a walking doormat, Fujinomiya. I’m busy. Extremely so.”

Her hands curled into small, slightly trembling fists, and when he tried to sidestep her, she didn’t let him.

“It’s n-not… about being a doormat, it’s b-basic courtesy…! It’s… about being polite!”

She lifted her arms to hold them out timidly to show that she wasn’t going to let him pass - although he could’ve probably easily walked past her, if he wanted to. She _was_ considerably shorter…

It took her a while to realise why she was feeling so frustrated.

She’d tried _so_ many things; she’d joined _so_ many classes to try to find some way to talk to people normally… For someone to not even try, to give up so easily and refuse help when given to them…

It was kind of pissing her off.

So much so, in fact, that it took her a full second to notice the bitter tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes, and she quickly removed her glasses to wipe them before Nakajima could make fun of her for crying so easily. She shouldn’t be acting like a crybaby anymore… She scolded herself mentally for losing herself in the moment.

But instead of acting annoyed like she was expecting him to be, Nakajima’s expression actually shifted into a slightly concerned one.

“Are… you crying?”

The reaction caught her so off-guard all she could do was nod, letting her hands drop.

Nakajima seemed speechless at first, clearly having trouble with his words, and he reached up to tug his hood lower with an uncomfortable frown this time.

“Listen, it’s… not because of you or anything. I have all those notes to go through, so I really can’t afford to just stand around and chitchat.”

Fujinomiya puffed her cheeks, sounding not at all intimidating when she raised her voice.

“Tsutsui-san already said she’d do that for you!”

“I want to look through them _personally_ , Fujinomiya.”

She lifted her arms again, blocking his way the same way she had before, looking strangely determined.

“That’s just too bad, because I’m not letting you leave until you agree to talk to me properly!”

With the last bit of courage she had, she stuck her tongue out like some kind of child, Nakajima burying his face in his hands with an exasperated sigh.

* * *

 

The cafeteria was oddly quiet - not that Kageyama minded that especially with Scaly and all, but the silent tension between Izumi and Chiba was a bit unnerving, he had to admit. Then there was the fact that whenever he’d try to get rid of the awkward atmosphere with a lighthearted joke, all he’d receive in exchange would be even more awkward silence.

He’d have thought that Sakurauchi dragging Minamoto over would help a little - but the gloomy atmosphere the latter had brought with her just made things worse, and he found himself sitting next to Sakurauchi in the corner while waiting for one of the other three to talk.

Which, as he was forced to realise after enough time had passed, might have been a fruitless endeavor.

He breathed a sigh as he slumped forward in his seat.

“You guys… Could you at least talk it out if you’re still mad at each other?”

“I’m not mad,” they replied in unison, both clearly displeased by that fact, their deep frowns giving it away quite well. The uncharacteristically flat look Kageyama wore must’ve frustrated them even more, and Chiba turned his head away, muttering under his breath.

“I’m not the one that started it…”

“Playing the victim now, are you?” Izumi snapped, unable to contain himself after a comment like that. “I _tried_ to be patient with you, I _tried_ to be civil, but apparently that doesn’t work with people who think they can solve everything with violence.”

“Oh, you can fuck right off,” Chiba raised his voice himself, all of Kageyama’s attempts to stop them from getting into a fight going ignored by both sides completely. “You and your bullshit inconsistent altruism… You would’ve snapped Natsume’s neck right then and there during the trial, but god forbid someone who was about to do the same thing gets hurt, right?”

Before anyone else could even get a word in, he turned to Minamoto.

“And you…” he narrowed his eyes. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself already, it’s fucking laughable. You’re not the only person here who’s had shit to deal with, so grow a fucking pair already-“

Chiba’s ranting was cut off as Izumi lifted him into the air by his collar, glaring down at him sharply, his tone eerily calm.

“I had to watch my sister get killed, so I apologise if my attitude regarding _actual murderers_ isn’t up to your standards, _Your Highness_.”

He let go of him once again after a few seconds of complete silence, taking a deep breath.

“If you could stop with your hissy fit now, that would be much appreciated.”

Completely stunned, Chiba couldn’t even get a word out, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared with wide eyes, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Sakurauchi stood up, presumably to stand between them before they could get into an actual fight, Kageyama following suit, but they were interrupted by a loud, sharp sound coming from the side, startling all four of them.

As Minamoto lowered her hands, two bright red, hand-shaped marks were visible on her cheeks, and she exhaled slowly before opening her eyes again.

“Chiba-kun… you have absolutely no tact.”

* * *

 

At least she didn’t have to look through Komatsu’s room herself, considering the fact that Nakajima had already done that part - Tsutsui was pretty sure it’d take quite a while for her to gather up everything.

Sitting at a table near the library with all the papers spread out in front of her, she drummed on the wood with her fingers restlessly, in the process of creating a document on her phone. She’d have just marked down her observations on the sheets themselves, but she had a feeling someone might get mad at her if she modified them in any way.

The drawing of the school building must have been the school Komatsu attended; she was rather certain of that, judging by how many times bits and pieces of it popped up. Aside from that, there were some doodles of the students trapped here, but mostly of people Tsutsui didn’t know. They must have been Komatsu’s old acquaintances…

The majority of the notes were all writing, and quite cryptic at that - Tsutsui _did_ recall Komatsu taking quite a bit of enjoyment in speaking in riddles and whatnot. From what she could see, and from Takahashi’s testimony during the trial, the girl seemed to believe that the killing game was for a good cause, and there were several mentions of people ‘ _getting their wish fulfilled_ ’. What’s more; all of the people listed there were the ones that had died so far during the killing game…

Was… that what she was implying, perhaps? Was that another one of her drug-induced illusions, or did it maybe have some kind of deeper meaning behind it?

It wasn’t like they could ask her now…

She’d made several distinctions between what she referred to as the ‘real world’, and the ship itself… But maybe that was just her phrasing. Or maybe Tsutsui had misread or misunderstood something herself…

Her writing was just way too messy.

Tsutsui leaned back in her chair with a sigh, tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling.

She hadn’t managed to do that much to help the others, had she? Even though she’d been trying so hard… It was a little depressing, if she had to be honest.

She’d been hoping she’d be able to make herself more useful by doing this, but it seemed she’d need someone smarter to look over them after all. She couldn’t even concentrate properly, her mind buzzing with everything new she learned in these last 24 hours. Maybe if she spent some time relaxing in the clothes store she’d be able to focus better afterwards…

She stood up to gather up everything, her head hanging low in defeat for now.

* * *

 

Hanamiya finally left his room by the time evening rolled around, feeling much better after getting a proper amount of sleep, only to be greeted by a somewhat awkward atmosphere in the cafeteria. It wasn’t quite as bad as before, and Minamoto seemed to be feeling a little better as well, but it was still somewhat peculiar.

Ah, well… it must have been something he missed during the day, then.

Shrugging his shoulders, he took a seat next to a restless-looking Kageyama, holding his hand up before he could be bombarded with questions, letting out a soft sigh.

“I need food.”

He just realised he hadn’t eaten anything all day long.

He had been in the middle of devouring a rather large piece of bread when he noticed all the muttering around him had gone oddly quiet. He raised his head, only to spot Shironeko standing near the exit, not saying a word. As he began walking unsteadily, slowly approaching them, his head suddenly began spinning around rapidly, chaotic beeping noises emanating from his speakers at an ear-piercingly loud volume.

When his head stopped moving, the left half of his white outer shell suddenly fell to the ground, revealing a side that was pitch black, with a red eye similar to that of Kuroneko’s. He finally spoke just before everyone’s initial shock had died down enough for them to be able to react properly.

“At last, I have arrived! Now that those other incomplete fools are out of the picture, I can finally start to get the ratings up!”

“Is… it just me, or is Shironeko acting strange…? Or stranger than usual, at least…?” Fujinomiya nervously reached up to adjust her glasses, the cat’s shoulders dropping for a moment at the remark.

“Being mistaken for garbage like that… I feel insulted.”

He placed his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest.

“Listen up, and listen well! My name is Mononeko, and I’m about a billion times more loveable than the previous teachers who’ve been assigned to you. You better treat me with respect.”

“Wait, so… you’re someone completely different?” Kageyama blinked several times, having trouble registering what just happened.

“The A.I. must’ve gotten updated,” Sakurauchi muttered under her breath, frowning. “That’s not good. I’m betting this one is more advanced.”

Hanamiya reached up to massage his temples briefly before simply holding his head, feeling a migraine emerging. Of course as soon as they make some progress, these things have to happen…

They should have stopped Kuroneko and Shironeko before the trial to prevent this… but that wouldn’t have worked either way. They’d need them both to stay still to be able to pull the self-destruct thing off successfully, and chances are they wouldn’t have had enough time to get them both to freeze. Hanamiya would have needed some time to get the voice down as well; he couldn’t just switch from one to another so fast…

Clearly, the odds were stacked against them from the start.

“Geez, would you stop whispering for a second and listen to me when I talk?” Mononeko placed his paws on his hips before marching up to them and hopping on the table without warning, causing several people to either flinch or push their chairs back. “I’m about to introduce the next motive, you know! It’ll be my big debut; I can’t afford to screw it up!”

Chiba got up from his seat to cross his arms, having some kind of weird staring contest with the cat.

“The mastermind can see us right now, right? If they’re trying to get us to play their game, why can’t they just talk to us themselves?”

 _Are they just afraid of getting punched the moment they show their face?_ That was more than likely how Chiba would have continued that. Hanamiya himself couldn’t really care less; the mastermind had countless reasons for obscuring their identity, especially if the killing game was being broadcasted. The more important question was why they needed an A.I. to do their job for them. It seemed less efficient, especially if they were going to use the buggy ones…

“Oho! Curious, are you? Why wouldn’t you be?” Mononeko laughed mischievously, covering his mouth with his paws. “That would be quite a bit of trouble, Chiba-nyan! The true mastermind is among you, after all.”

That… was not the kind of explanation Hanamiya had expected to hear. Before the statement could even sink in fully, however, Mononeko cleared his throat, clapping his paws together twice.

“But enough of this aimless chatter; we have important business to get done.”

He turned his head to scan the room slowly as he rubbed his chin, before his gaze settled on someone.

“Hmm… I guess you’ll do fine for our first go. You’ve been acting so mean, Chiba-nyan, I think it’s only fair.”

Chiba opened his mouth, possibly either for a question or a retort, but before he could say anything, his legs buckled underneath him, and he collapsed onto the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a map to the 4th floor im,, http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/post/163098734931


	17. The Final Wish Project

“This is humiliating…”

“Well, I doubt anyone else could carry you. Unless you’d like to ask Izumi…?”

“I’m good.”

The reply was almost immediate, and Kageyama had to suppress a chuckle.

Carrying Chiba around on his back was really no big deal - he was an entire head shorter than Kageyama, after all -, but all the complaining would have probably bothered him at least a little if he would have minded that sort of thing.

Well… he couldn’t really blame him. Chiba was the strong-willed type, so the only reason he’d been able to act relatively normal has probably been the fact that he still had trouble trusting a single word Mononeko had said. If he had to be honest, Kageyama had doubts about the whole thing himself - how couldn’t he? The circumstances were much too suspicious.

The motive, according to Mononeko, was talent erasure this time around - although that still didn’t explain how Chiba lost the use of his legs in such a manner. That was more than likely why he himself had been stubbornly insisting that the motive and the incident were unrelated.

Regardless of whether the matter with Chiba has been caused by the mastermind or not, Kageyama had to wonder if his own talent was even compatible with a motive like that, and… if he would even mind if it was gone. He’d been trying his best to stop relying on it after all… would he even notice it if he didn’t have it anymore? For the ones that held their talent up extremely high it was probably a pretty big deal, but this motive didn’t affect him much.

He also couldn’t help but be curious about Izumi. The guy still didn’t know his talent, did he? He didn’t seem to have any special feelings towards any of the rooms they’d come across so far…

Come to think of it… did he even have any hobbies? Kageyama couldn’t recall him trying out any activities aside from that one gaming session. Perhaps he just wasn’t the type to be able to relax in this kind of situation… But that was no good; Kageyama was very well aware of that. Being stressed out wouldn’t help them either way.

His attention was brought back to reality when Chiba practically put him into a chokehold unintentionally - or at least he was _hoping_ it wasn’t on purpose.

“Did you get lost or did you space out again?” Chiba raised a brow at him, and Kageyama let out a small, embarrassed laugh as he walked a couple of steps back to turn in the right direction this time. The fact that the snake around Kageyama’s waist would occasionally glance up at the shorter boy probably wasn’t helping with his temper, even if he couldn’t feel the scales against his legs.

Considering the fact that the fourth floor hadn’t been thoroughly searched yet, they were all in agreement that they should at least check one room each properly to make sure they wouldn’t miss anything, and the one room Chiba picked happened to be the theater. It was the biggest one out of all of them, but hopefully Kageyama could just place him down somewhere and check the room by himself. Chiba was light, but Kageyama would’ve preferred to have his hands free if he was going to have to search.

“What are we looking for anyway?”

He hummed under his breath as he pushed the door open with his knee. Chiba only shrugged.

“No idea. I guess anything that looks out of place.”

Before he could object, Kageyama dropped him down onto one of the padded chairs, stretching his back afterwards with a soft sigh.

“Whelp, I guess I’ll get to that then.”

Chiba grumbled something under his breath about being mistreated before he took a deep breath.

“Kageyama…”

Kageyama glanced back at him, already having started looking around, and Chiba stared back rather seriously with his arms crossed.

“What do you think about all that stuff Tsutsui said?”

After a short pause, Kageyama flicked his hat.

“Dunno what I’m supposed to think of it.”

He began walking around the room in a circle, alternating between examining the walls and the seats in the middle. Since he couldn’t exactly move from his position, Chiba craned his neck just so he could keep looking in his direction.

“We already knew we aren’t… Super High School Level students, yeah? That didn’t change much, if you ask me. I mean…” he rubbed his chin, “everyone still has their talents.”

He could practically feel the flat look Chiba gave him at that dig into the back of his head.

“You know what I meant…”

Chiba reluctantly stopped trying to drill a hole into his skull, letting out a sigh.

“I didn’t say anything.”

Ahh, geez… they were getting along pretty well before, didn’t they? He should try to think of something to cheer up the little guy.

Before he could proceed further with that thought, though, he opened the door to the storage, and he stood around silently for several seconds, blinking a few times at the object in the center. Surely something just out in the open like that couldn’t be anything important… right? But it’d also be silly to just dismiss it because of that…

As he walked up to the giant, wooden chest in question, he opened it without much trouble, peeking inside to discover… another chest inside.

Huh.

When he opened that one, the same thing happened, and he raised a brow before repeating the action.

In the end, all that was left was a chest small enough to fit onto the palm of his hand, and when he opened it, he found a USB drive inside. He had to admit he found the whole thing a little funny; stifling a small laugh, he straightened back up to call out to Chiba.

“I think I’ve got something…?”

* * *

 

A quick visit to the gallery was enough to sour Hanamiya’s mood even more - the walls were now lined with photographs and paintings of Mononeko, the cat wearing a different kind of outfit in every single one. To put it frankly, they all looked absolutely ridiculous.

Now, being accompanied by Izumi… was bearable. Apparently him and Chiba had snapped at each other pretty bad the previous day, but Hanamiya really couldn’t care less; it was none of his business. And… he also had something he wanted to bring up himself, although a little reluctantly, as he would’ve preferred to avoid provoking the same kind of reaction.

Then again, he wasn’t a hothead like Chiba.

“Say…” he stifled a small yawn, wanting to leave the room behind already but not wanting to shout, “have you remembered anything about your talent?”

Izumi blinked; he must not have been expecting that kind of question. He probably wasn’t going to wonder too much about it, though - that kind of motive would have made anyone curious.

“No, not yet,” he shook his head as he examined a picture from up close. “Although… I _have_ managed to figure some things out.”

Hanamiya hummed.

“Like what?”

“Bits and pieces of my past for the most part, I guess…”

Izumi tapped his chin slowly.

“I didn’t forget that much to begin with; apart from my talent and whatnot, there were just a few events that had gotten a little hazy. Ah, but,” before Hanamiya could ask anything else, he seemed to lit up for a moment, “I do know I like movies and games a lot. Maybe my talent has something to do with that.”

Maybe… it was certainly possible. But most guys did enjoy those kinds of things; Hanamiya himself was no exception. And it was much too broad of a category to go off on as well.

“I’m kind of surprised you asked,” Izumi continued, glancing in his direction for a moment. “Has Kageyama-kun finally broken you out of your shell?”

Hanamiya raised a brow.

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you’d say that…” Izumi shook his head with a scolding expression, looking like he didn’t believe him at all. Hanamiya frowned.

As if Kageyama of all people would cause anything like that…

He was a good guy, _maybe_ even likeable, that much Hanamiya was willing to admit to himself, but that was all he was. He wasn’t a friend or anything. He was just… some guy who was nice to talk to.

“Could you stop talking down to me?” Hanamiya sighed, leaning against the wall. Izumi seemed somewhat amused by that response for a change, expression softening.

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” he let out a breathy chuckle. “I’m sorry, I guess. I just figured I should comment on it. There’s no shame in being caring, Hanamiya-kun.”

Maybe not. But he certainly didn’t wanna become someone like Izumi either. Someone who cared about appearances enough to constantly project and idealized version of themselves; someone who had to hunt down others to try to share their troubles because they needed validation _so_ much, and based their own value on how much others were relying on them…

He wasn’t being true to himself.

It wasn’t like the playful, albeit somewhat obnoxious act of Sakurauchi; he wasn’t playing up his own personality like some sort of comedian or entertainer, he wasn’t just trying to have fun. It was more like the desperate attempts of Minamoto. It was kind of… pitiful.

His outburst during the trial with Natsume… that was the first time Hanamiya had seen him act so sincere. He was kind of disappointed he missed the argument with Chiba - he couldn’t help but wonder what the boy really would be like if all that self-control were to just break down.

“I’m not ashamed to care,” he reached up to lazily adjust his glasses before they could fall off. “I just don’t see the point in being overemotional.”

Izumi touched one of the paintings, his fingers sliding across the frame.

“Or is it that you’re too afraid to care? Even when it comes to your talent… I’ve never seen you show genuine passion beyond simple interest.”

 _Just brush it off_.

He was just trying to get under his skin to get a confession out of him, Hanamiya knew that. He had to be better than that. Getting so worked up over something could never end well, passion or not. Calling attention to yourself, acting like some sort of immature brat who still isn’t in control of their emotions… that wasn’t like Hanamiya at all.

Because of that, he swallowed his retort. He closed his eyes, silently counting to ten, feeling himself cooling down already. He needed to stop letting these things get to him so much. He’d been doing so well before, so why was he becoming so much easier to rile up…?

He took a deep breath.

_Don’t become emotional._

* * *

 

Ice cream wasn’t the type of snack she was the biggest fan of… but Minamoto supposed it could be nice sometimes. Using one of her hands to prop her chin up, her fingers slightly digging into her cheeks, she let out a small sigh once she finished her portion, pushing the now empty chalice slightly away from her.

The café didn’t take long at all to search - it was quite small, so that was no surprise -, and upon Sakurauchi’s suggestion, the two decided to take a break from everything with some dessert.

Although Sakurauchi didn’t notice, the glances Minamoto kept sneaking towards her were conflicted enough to make even her herself feel confused about them. For someone to act so cheerful all the time… she seemed to be pretty dedicated to her cat persona. Or… at least she had been before. Recently she seemed a lot less… _draining_ , and more like a regular happy-go-lucky type.

Minamoto supposed that was good; she was a lot more likeable this way, even if she would occasionally catch her ranting to someone about this _really famous series_ seemingly without end.

When Minamoto let out a sigh, Sakurauchi tilted her head with a questioning look in her eyes.

“Is something wrong, Minamoto-san?”

 _Everything is wrong._ But perhaps that wasn’t the most ideal response she could’ve picked. In the end, she shook her head before letting it drop onto the table with a dull thud, her cheek squished against the wood. She wasn’t even sure why she was bothering with the whole issue of Sakurauchi so much. It wasn’t like her own situation was comparable at all…

“I give up,” she simply stated instead, letting her eyes close to signal her defeat. Sakurauchi just seemed even more confused than before.

“If… there’s something on your mind…”

“Sakurauchi-san,” she raised her head briefly to make eye contact for once, and spoke with utmost sincerity in her voice, looking rather serious. “I think I may be cursed.”

After a few seconds of silence, a small giggle bubbled up in the other girl’s throat, and before she knew it, Sakurauchi was covering her mouth to stop herself from giggling like some kind of child. Minamoto puffed her cheeks out, annoyed that she wasn’t being taken seriously - although Sakurauchi did seem like she was trying her best to stop laughing.

“No, I’m serious…!” she combed her fingers through her hair in a frustrated manner. “Up until now, I’ve been trying so hard to get popular just so I could have someone to talk to… But the moment that succeeds-“ she cut herself off, much too uncomfortable to talk about the subject. Her chest felt just a little tighter, and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Sakurauchi’s laughter had died down as she spoke, and she back to simply staring at Minamoto quite fast, clearly unsure of what she should think of this whole situation. In the end, she leaned back in her seat, her hands in her lap.

“Minamoto-san… I don’t think that’s the right way of approaching things.”

Minamoto blew out a small puff of air, but Sakurauchi wasn’t finished.

“I think if you’re looking to make friends… just being yourself should be enough,” she smiled encouragingly, albeit visibly nervous if she was doing this right. Minamoto let her head drop down once again.

“That won’t work… I’m not likeable enough for that.”

She wasn’t just self-deprecating; she already knew this much. She was clumsy and awkward, and she would always end up saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. She was petty and stubborn, and her lack of impulse control had already caused her enough trouble for a lifetime.

She hadn’t spent much time around the same kids her age much to begin with, having to move all the time… The lack of social skills probably came from that. It wasn’t like she blamed her father or anything, but it _was_ somewhat troubling, to say the least… She had a feeling experiencing friendship through literature just wasn’t the same as real life.

Honestly… she wasn’t sure if she was even right for something like making friends.

If Chiba could hear her thoughts right now, he would probably smack her upside the head.

That thought did get a small, amused smile out of her.

Sakurauchi hummed for a few seconds before she responded this time around.

“When it comes to these things… I don’t think comparing them to fiction is the right way to think about it.”

She took her hat off, absentmindedly staring at it as she played with in her hands.

“I don’t think you need to be special for people to like you… Rather, I think you just need to find the special kind of people who will appreciate you for who you are,” she lowered her hands for a moment, wearing a slightly awkward, crooked smile.

“…That’s just an empty platitude, isn’t it…?”

“I- I know it sounds cliché as all hell, but I mean it…!”

She seemed so determined to convince her, Minamoto figured she should at least hear her out properly.

“Still, I’m surprised… You didn’t seem like the type to think too much about these things,” Minamoto half-mumbled, her voice a tad muffled by her scarf. She didn’t seem like the type to think too much about _anything_ , but she kept that bit to herself - it could’ve come off much more mean-spirited than she meant for it to sound.

“Ehe, well… I did only stop to think about these things recently,” Sakurauchi squished her hat in mild embarrassment. “I think… I wasn’t taking these things seriously before. Or anything, r-really…” she shrunk slightly. “Back at home… I didn’t really have to think about these things. Mom would just pay attention to whoever was the loudest at the time,” she giggled softly, “and I think I’ve gotten… a bit too used to that.”

As Minamoto gradually sat up properly, she straightened her back, albeit still averting her gaze and biting her lip.

And to think she was having this conversation with the airhead type… It seemed she’d reached the point where she’d be embarrassed at all times by her own mistakes and the people’s successes around her.

She exhaled softly before she brushed the lock of hair that had been covering his left eye behind her ear in annoyance, finally fed up with the fact that she couldn’t see things properly half the time.

“Optimistic types like you are the ones who gain from self-revelation… I get that. But what am I gonna do?”

Sakurauchi clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling.

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you more, Minamoto-san! I would love to introduce you to my favourite series as well, I’m sure you’d enjoy it! Fujinomiya-san has other people she’d like to talk to, and Hanamiya-san is always half-asleep when I find him, and I’d be happy to have someone else to spend time with!”

And with that, she placed her hat atop Minamoto’s head, the other girl blinking a couple of times. She kind of wanted to roll her eyes, but the childlike gesture was also somehow appealing to her. Before she could respond, though, the door creaked open, Kageyama poking his head inside.

“Got a minute?”

* * *

 

“If you’re going to follow me around, I figured I might as well make use of it somehow.”

Nakajima didn’t miss the way Fujinomiya winced at the phrasing, but he didn’t correct himself; that was more or less the effect he’d been going for. The girl seemed to have cooled down by now, and she was clearly too nervous to ask if she made him mad the previous day. _Nakajima_ wasn’t going to clarify it; if it kept her focused enough on the task, that was all he needed.

“U-uhm, are you sure I’m the right person to ask…?”

“I could also just go off by myself,” he shot her a meaningful look. “I certainly wouldn’t mind that.”

Fujinomiya shook her head rapidly.

“N-no, I’ll listen, I’ll listen!”

God knows how this might end…

“From what I’ve seen, Sakurauchi is working on getting data from the… _thing_ Kageyama found, so I’d just like to organize my thoughts in the meantime.”

Maybe he would’ve been better off keeping all of it to himself, but then again… unless the mastermind was an idiot, he was pretty sure they were aware that figuring out this much was to be expected.

“It’s called a USB drive,” Fujinomiya offered helpfully, and Nakajima cleared his throat to mask his embarrassment.

It wasn’t his fault if he had no idea about these things…

“The thing that bothers me the most… is the statement about the mastermind.”

_The true mastermind is among you._

He’d thought it over multiple times. It _was_ very well possible that Mononeko was just messing with them - that wouldn’t be unusual in the slightest -, but… it _would_ give another reason as to why the mastermind had to resort to using A.I.’s instead of showing their face… or even just controlling a robot themselves while distorting their voice.

But why would the mastermind want to risk being killed themselves…?

“I think…” he paused for a moment, rhythmically drumming on the table with his fingers, “we’re dealing with a cheater. Or at least someone who won’t hesitate to bend the rules they’ve created…”

The case with Hayama was what ended up confirming his suspicions.

“Is that… good?” Fujinomiya asked timidly, starting to fidget a little.

“It’s bad news for us…” Nakajima let out a sigh. “It’ll be a lot harder to manipulate them into doing what we want.”

If only they could figure out their motive… They could definitely use that to their advantage.

He _did_ have an idea of who he should be the most wary of, his intuition heavily supporting all the facts. Being so uncomfortable with talking to people did have the advantage of being just slightly more observant than average…

It would be better if he didn’t tell anyone else, though. He should confirm his suspicions later…

Fujinomiya adjusted her glasses.

“I think it’d be better to cooperate… considering everything t-that’s happened so far,” she swallowed nervously. “So… if you have an idea…”

Teamwork _might_ carry less of a risk, but it would also significantly decrease their chances of being able to go behind the mastermind’s back. A plan failing like that… now, that would just be pitiful.

He placed his index finger in front of his mouth.

“That’s a secret.”

He made a mental note to try to discreetly search a certain room later.

* * *

 

“Are you sure this will work?”

“It took me a while to fix it up, but yeah,” Sakurauchi beamed, stepping away from the laptop to dust her hands off. “You can count on me when it comes to these things.”

They’d all gathered in the cinema, the other rooms lacking in computers of any kind. The laptop wasn’t all that great either, and there was no connection whatsoever, _of course_ , but at least they could check whatever data the drive had on it.

With everyone peering over Sakurauchi’s shoulder as she began looking through the files, Hanamiya didn’t bother to object when he felt someone elbow him in the side. From what he could see, most of the files were video files of some sort, each of them titled with a time and date. The time, however…

The laptop itself wasn’t displaying the current date, which was somewhat annoying, but the files themselves all had dates set 2-3 years into the future. If… they really did lose their memories…

Sakurauchi clicked on the first one, and Hanamiya couldn’t help but hold his breath, wincing slightly once the clip started playing. It seemed to have been recorded inside a dimly lit room with a cheap camera, and it took Hanamiya a moment to realise he was staring at himself. He couldn’t make out everything very well, but he had no doubt it was him there. He couldn’t remember recording something like this, though…

“ _My name is… Hanamiya Takashi. I… would like to volunteer as a participant. My wish would be… financial support for my mother. I would… ask for more, but that’s not allowed, is it…? So, then… I guess that’s everything…_ ”

His voice was barely above a whisper, and the recording ended right then and there, leaving Hanamiya staring silently for several seconds. He could feel the other’s eyes on him, but he didn’t dare turn his head, instead trying to figure out what that could have been about. By volunteering… he couldn’t have meant the killing game, right…? That would be ridiculous; he’d never do something like that…

The next clip was one of Takahashi, the quality being a lot better than the one with Hanamiya. He seemed to be pretty out of it - his eyes were barely focused, and he was visibly having trouble with his phrasing -, and his hair seemed to be completely blonde this time around, missing the black dye.

“ _My name… uhm… It’s Takahashi Yuki. I would like to volunteer… I think. As for the wish… I would like to ask for a donation to a hospital, if possible. I’m… allowed to request anything, right?_ ”

He paused for a second or two, then quickly shook his head.

“ _Y-yeah, I’m sure that much will be fine._ ”

The video ended with that.

There were 14 more recordings like that, each of them containing of a different person from the group. Yokoyama, Akiyama, Natsume, Hayama, Komatsu, Takahashi, Minamoto, Nakajima, Chiba, Fujinomiya, Sakurauchi, Tsutsui, Izumi, Kageyama… Everyone was there, without a single exception.

The last file was some kind of document, but it didn’t help with all the confusion in the slightest.

_As all the participants of the Final Wish Project have consented both in written and video format, the responsibility will be placed solely upon them. The project is expected to take place in 2020 July, and will also be testing out the capabilities of the new serenity software. The details are not to be shared publically with the exception of the broadcast._

Hanamiya could hear his pulse drumming in his ears as he gripped the table tightly, suddenly feeling incredibly lightheaded, overwhelmed with this new piece of information. Those videos… they must be fake, right? To think that they’d walk into something like this willingly… it was unimaginable.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds, and he opened his mouth to try to at least say something to break the silence…

Except no sound came out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god help me its 4am


	18. The serenity software

Even though Tsutsui had lent him her phone to use temporarily, Hanamiya still couldn’t find it in himself to even try to calm down. He’d tried it so many times, it might as well have been confirmed by Mononeko at this point.

He’d lost his voice.

He’d have thought something like this wouldn’t upset him much. He wasn’t the talkative type anyway; who cares, right? He could always just write it down if he had to say something…

But now that it had actually happened to him, all he could feel was anxiety. How could Chiba have stayed so calm all this time? He was obviously distracted, yeah, but he wasn’t _losing his shit_ , which Hanamiya was pretty close to. Then again… perhaps Chiba was just more used to having to hold back.

All it took was a single tap on the shoulder from Kageyama for him to flinch and turn around to start ranting defensively before he remembered that he couldn’t, and all he did was confuse the guy even more. He lifted Tsutsui’s phone with a sigh, thanking the heavens that his typing speed was at least decent.

“ _Sorry._ ”

Kageyama blinked, drawing his hand back before his expression shifted into one of mild confusion and a sheepish smile.

“Don’t worry about it…?”

Ahh, geez… He couldn’t just go around snapping at people as he pleased. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, hoping the usual sleepiness would gradually take over instead of these unpleasant emotions. Maybe if he could lie down somewhere…

“Hanamiya-san…?”

He turned his head to see Sakurauchi staring at him, and was about to impulsively apologise for something that he may or may not have done by not paying attention, when she tilted her head slightly, balancing on her heels.

“Would you like to come with me to the café? There are some delicious sweets there that you can’t find in the kitchen; I’m sure you’d enjoy them!”

She was trying to cheer him up, wasn’t she? Because even if he didn’t think of her as a friend, she might have agreed to disagree… In the end, he simply let her lead him by the wrist, not really making any moves to object despite the ridiculous amount of stairs he’d have to take to get to the top.

It wasn’t like he minded being thought of as a friend, as long as people weren’t trying to rely on him to an uncomfortable degree… Even if he was reluctant to be so sincere about these things, he knew they were important to others. He wasn’t going to be stubborn and deny that. He just thought that he was… above that stuff.

Relying on others… it wasn’t all that pleasant for someone so frighteningly aware of his limits. When you have nothing else to offer in exchange but bitter sarcasm, you shouldn’t be trying in the first place. Games, anime, manga… all that stuff was so much more satisfying than a gray world like this one. A world where you can’t amount to anything no matter how hard you try; where everything about your life is decided from the moment of your birth…

In a world where talent tops hard work with much less effort, there was no point in getting invested.

If he had lost the one thing he had left…

Narrowly avoiding walking straight into the glass door, Hanamiya blinked a few times as Sakurauchi stifled her giggles, pulling him back carefully to open the door for him.

“Here you go.”

He gave her a small nod as a ‘thank you’, stepping inside and examining the place, Sakurauchi following him and letting the door close behind them. It was pretty much the same as he remembered it to be, and though he wasn’t exactly in the mood for binging desserts one after another, it might help improve his mood a little.

If it didn’t make him sick, that is.

“Wait here, I’ll bring you some of my favourite ones, okay?” Sakurauchi excitedly clasped her hands together before she ran off to presumably fetch some food. Was she letting him pick the seats, then…?

Hanamiya looked around before simply shrugging his shoulders, plopping down onto the nearest chair, back hunched.

It didn’t take long for her to return at all, and she was carrying a tray full of sweets. The strawberry shortcake made him frown slightly - he wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of strawberries, to put it simply -, but when Sakurauchi asked him if there was something wrong, he just shook his head. It wasn’t like he couldn’t eat them… besides, she could’ve just taken the cake for herself.

When she sat down, she already took a cake roll for herself, cheerfully chattering between bites about some series she’d been following, that Hanamiya _did_ surprisingly have a vague idea of. He did end up toning her out in the end, finally starting to feel a little sleepy as he munched on a cake of his own, but she caught his attention once again when she addressed him directly.

“Hanamiya-san, do you have any siblings?”

He lifted his head before slowly shaking it, turning to the phone again.

“Why do you ask?”

“I’ve just been wondering about it is all,” she tilted her head slightly with a small smile. “You always act so uncaring, but it’s just never really enough to convince me.”

Well _of course_ he didn’t care-

No, better stop there before he ends up going into denial and turning into Nakajima.

“My older brother is like that too!” Sakurauchi continued, not at all bothered by the lack of a response. “Up until recently, I kept thinking he just didn’t like me. I was the youngest and all, and pretty much all I was good at were videogames…”

She leaned back in her seat, swaying a little.

“But it wasn’t that he didn’t like me; he just had a different way of showing it. All of my siblings did, actually…” she let out a lighthearted giggle. “But once you picked up on it, it was actually pretty easy to see. He would bring my lunch to school if I forgot it at home, and he was actually really good at giving advice! I’m not that smart, but… I think this is one thing I’m good at noticing.”

She took his hands before he could protest, eyes sparkling.

“Hanamiya-san, you may be just a little too blunt sometimes… But I don’t think you’re a bad person at all. So unless I’m bothering you… I’ll continue telling you about my favourite shows. I mean…” her smile widened slightly. “You _are_ the only other person here who likes these kinds of things.”

Maybe he _had_ misjudged her a bit. She wasn’t so bad when she wasn’t going out of her way to be as hyper as possible.

He awkwardly drew his hands back, typing out a quick ‘thank you’, Sakurauchi - either fortunately or unfortunately - perking up even more at the positive response.

The conversation went on in a bit less of a one-sided manner from then on, Hanamiya occasionally interjecting with a side comment here and there. When Sakurauchi offered him the shortcake, he took it without putting up much of a resistance.

The strawberry on the top wasn’t quite as sickeningly sweet as he thought it would be.

* * *

 

“Izumi…? You okay in there?”

Kageyama wasn’t sure if he should even remark on it at first - maybe he should’ve been used to seeing weird stuff by now, but then again, he wasn’t sure how weird someone removing picture frames from the wall was. Maybe he was just doing it out of spite…?

Izumi glanced back at him, seemingly completely back to normal.

“Don’t worry about it, Kageyama-kun. I’m just investigating.”

“Investigating, huh…?” Kageyama stepped inside, turning his head. Izumi had removed half the paintings already, which was pretty impressive in and of itself, considering the height some of them were at.

“You guys have done a thorough search in the other rooms, right? I was pretty occupied with Hanamiya-kun when we looked in here, so I was wondering if I missed something.”

“Behind one of the frames?” Kageyama couldn’t help a lighthearted grin, which left the other boy sulking a little.

“It’s not that bad of a spot… Something small could fit easily. Or maybe there’s some writing behind one of these, who knows,” Izumi went back to what he’d been doing, occasionally shooting a small glance at Kageyama. “You see it all the time in movies.”

“In horror, maybe,” Kageyama snickered, but he joined in anyway, Izumi’s expression softening slightly when he saw him picking off a few himself.

He’d left Chiba back in the cafeteria, as Scaly seemed to get a little irritated whenever he carried the boy around for a longer time, and he just didn’t have the heart to try to remove it from his waist. It looked so comfortable!

“Anyway, I’m glad you seem to be feeling better,” he continued, carefully placing another picture down. “You snapped pretty badly at Chiba. Not that I’m trying to take sides, really…”

Izumi seemed to wince a little at that.

“I guess I should apologise for that…” he let out a sigh. “I’m not used to losing my cool like that.”

“I think…” Kageyama briefly stretched his back before he lifted off a particularly large frame, groaning slightly as he put it down, “either you should both apologise, or just step past it. It’s not like there were any actual punches, anyway; at least you guys were being honest and whatnot.”

Izumi seemed to be pretty obsessed with his image anyway; it couldn’t hurt to make him loosen up a little. _Kageyama_ wouldn’t be able to understand something like that; he’d always been a pretty laidback guy himself. Maybe Izumi was just lacking confidence…? Or… maybe he was just trying to overcompensate for the fact that he didn’t know what his talent was.

Either way, there wasn’t much Kageyama could do about that. Chiba, on the other hand, _might_ be able to help him out. He did seem to be the only one able to draw out such a genuine reaction… even if it was a negative one.

“You don’t take these things too seriously, do you…?” Izumi shook his head in disbelief, leaving Kageyama grinning.

“Not really, no. My little brothers fight all the time; I’m pretty used to it.”

Not that that has ever stopped his mom from scolding them, but Kageyama wasn’t going to complain about that. They _have_ gone a bit too far a couple of times.

Remembering that got him to frown a little, though, for a different reason. Were they really being broadcasted? And if so… what about their families? Did _they_ know what was going on? Could they even find a way to contact the outside world to find out?

They did have the laptop, but Sakurauchi was the only one who knew anything about programming - and she already said she couldn’t really do anything in this situation. When it came to the others… Nakajima was straight up an _idiot_ with technology, that much was clear from the expressions he put on that ranged from mildly puzzled to having completely given up on understanding what the hell they were talking about whenever anyone brought up any kind of machine. Minamoto and Chiba were somewhat better, but neither of the two could pull off anything too complicated, while Hanamiya, Fujinomiya and Tsutsui’s knowledge was limited to the specific areas they were personally interested in - mainly internet culture. As for Izumi… well, from what little Kageyama did know about him, he wasn’t exactly the person for this either.

Good grief… Maybe if they reached the top of the ship-

No… even if it was possible that only one more person would die, they couldn’t sacrifice someone like that. It wasn’t like him to be having all these thoughts, geez…

He shook his head, just in time to notice something behind the frame he’d taken off this time around.

A key was taped to the wall.

It wasn’t like the key cards the whole ship had been using, but rather, an actual, old-fashioned key. He turned it around in his hand once he took it off the wall, staring at it curiously. There was no door that had a lock of the traditional kind, from what he could recall… but it must be able to open _something,_ right?

He was going to cheerfully comment on it in, unable to wait until he could show it off to Hanamiya and receive a reluctant compliment or two, but his voice got stuck in his throat when he remembered Mononeko’s words.

He wasn’t the distrustful type, mind you, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and show his newest finding off. What if… What if what Mononeko said about one of them being the mastermind was true? Maybe… he shouldn’t be letting so much stuff slip so carelessly…

Maybe he could tell Hanamiya, yeah!

Or… could he? What if Hanamiya was-

He shook his head. Hanamiya was a pretty rude guy, but they were friends. If he had to pick someone here that he could trust, it was him.

He quickly dropped the key in his pocket, trying to look as innocent as possible, and almost letting out the tiniest squeak when Izumi turned around and opened his mouth.

 _Oh god, he knows._ Kageyama had never been a good liar; he never had to lie too much in the first place. He could already feel himself breaking out in cold sweat, the boy’s eyes piercing him as though they could see right into his soul, and he was in the process of attempting to rehearse every single rational excuse he could have for trying to hide the key from everyone else, but he froze as soon as Izumi spoke.

“I _might_ have found something… Could you come a bit closer?”

Kageyama breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as though his heart was beating again after stopping for half a second, and walked up to Izumi to get a better look at the wall. There _was_ indeed something there, although he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.

A red kitsune mask had been painted onto the wall with some writing underneath.

_Here lies the key to his heart._

_In the place most precious to him, you may find the key to his dreams._

Was that about the mastermind…? Or did the mastermind write it about someone else? Geez, more riddles really weren’t what Kageyama needed right now…

He let out a sigh in sync with Izumi, wondering if there was anything else left in here that they could’ve possibly missed.

* * *

 

“Tsutsui-san…?”

Tsutsui narrowly avoided dropping the tiny notepad she’d been holding onto, looking much more suspicious than she would’ve preferred to. _Maybe_ sneaking around really wasn’t the best way to make people trust her, but she kind of wanted to be by herself for a little while in hopes that an idea of some sort would come to her.

Fujinomiya appeared to be standing around in the hallway, pushing her glasses up several times as she stared at the girl a little nervously. This being one of the few times Tsutsui was glad to be hard to read, she lifted the notepad she’d been using to communicate instead of her cellphone, scribbling on it in cute, girlish handwriting.

“ _Is something the matter?_ ”

“N-no, _I’m_ fine…” Fujinomiya half-muttered before she actually took her glasses off to begin wiping the lenses with the hem of her shirt. “Uhm… Tsutsui-san, are _you_ okay?”

The question caught her a bit off-guard, she had to admit, but she made sure to nod with a cheerful smile - even if Fujinomiya couldn’t see half of it.

“A-ahh, that’s good…!” Fujinomiya breathed a sigh of relief, putting her glasses back on again. “I’ve just been wondering is all… You haven’t been as talkative lately- n-not that I’m talking about, uhm, y-your… v-voice and all…!”

Tsutsui quickly lifted her hand to cut her off, her shoulders shaking slightly with silent giggles before she shook her head.

“ _Nothing is wrong, I promise. I’ve just been figuring out some things is all._ ”

She had to admit, she didn’t know much about Fujinomiya’s anxiety issues - she’d been hoping either Sakurauchi or Nakajima would be able to help her out with that. She _had_ been improving bit by bit, at least, which was nice to see…

Ah, she should congratulate her on that…! That would surely be encouraging, right?

“ _By the way, I’m glad to see that you’re getting better at handling your nerves!_ ”

Looking somewhat flustered by that, Fujinomiya fidgeted quite a bit as she gave a small nod.

“T-thank you… I’ve been trying my best…”

She swallowed as she timidly glanced onto the floor for a second, only breaking eye contact for a moment.

“Singing hasn’t helped… half as much with it as j-just talking to people, I think. I took it up when I was small in hopes that it would, but… it’s more of an easy way out than anything.”

She let out a quiet, nervous chuckle, taking a step back.

“A-anyway, I should stop rambling! If you’d rather be by yourself, I c-can come back later-“

Tsutsui took her hand before she could go, clutching the notepad to her chest with her free hand.

Maybe she should have just let her go, but… she just couldn’t. It was the same way with Nakajima and Minamoto…

They were much too similar to her sister.

“A-ah…?” Fujinomiya glanced between her hand and Tsutsui’s face multiple times. “I… guess I can stay, i-if you want me to…”

Tsutsui nodded dragging her back into the clothes store to sit her down onto one of the benches. Lifting the notepad slightly, she tapped her chin with the pen slowly as she thought over what a good conversation starter would be. Something that Fujinomiya liked… Ah, come to think of it, she could recall her mentioning something one time.

“ _Fujinomiya-chan, you like birds, right?_ ”

“Yes!” she nodded immediately, her eyes seeming to sparkle, before she realised that she was about to start rambling again and covered her mouth with an embarrassed look on her face.

Tsutsui kind of wanted to laugh again.

“I- I’m sorry, I can’t help it…” Fujinomiya bashfully averted her gaze. “My mom used to take me to birdwatch, and it just kind of grew on me…”

“ _That sounds quite fun, actually!_ ”

Tsutsui clasped her hands together, and Fujinomiya hesitantly glanced back at her.

“It _was_ …” she let out a soft sigh. “I miss… it a lot, but what can you do…”

Tsutsui didn’t miss the unnatural pause, and she tugged on Fujinomiya’s sleeve slightly to signal for her to continue. The girl gave a shaky smile, looking a lot less cheerful about the topic than before.

“My mom passed away a few years ago, and I don’t really have anyone else I could go with… My friends aren’t really interested in these kinds of things.”

Tsutsui slowly tilted her head. There _was_ one thing she could do…

“ _Fujinomiya-chan, do you like plushies?_ ”

Fujinomiya blinked.

“I… guess I do, yeah. Why…?”

Tsutsui beamed.

“ _I could sew you a plushie of your favourite bird, if you want!_ ”

She _had_ always preferred plushies over clothing articles anyway - and she was sure she could find the things she needed for it here. Fujinomiya seemed to brighten up at the suggestion, albeit hesitant to agree to it.

“Are… are you sure, Tsutsui-san? W-wouldn’t that be too much trouble-?”

Tsutsui shook her head.

“ _Don’t worry about it. My talent isn’t just for show, you know._ ”

She would’ve probably made one sooner or later of her own accord anyway. She was more used to making bunnies and cats and whatnot, but she was sure she could manage - if there was one thing she could always have confidence in, it was her talent.

Maybe she should make one for everyone else as well to cheer them up… She should ask them their favourite animals sometime.

She made a mental note to go ask around later.

* * *

 

He wasn’t all that confident that he _would_ , but he did end up finding what he needed. Fortunately everyone else seemed to be distracted, and while he still couldn’t help but feel _extremely_ nervous about being inside someone else’s room without permission, he knew there was a pretty good chance he could leave before they got back. Privacy may have been sacred to him, but he had to put that aside for the sake of finding the mastermind.

Fujinomiya had been bothering him so much too… She wouldn’t have been _that_ bad if she’d only come to talk occasionally, but Nakajima was an introvert through-and-through, and he didn’t exactly appreciate the lack of alone time he’d been getting.

He knew if he’d just unload on Tsutsui she’d leave him be, but he just didn’t have the heart. She was clearly the type to base her self-worth on how others viewed her, which… for better or for worse, made her much more troublesome to deal with. Not that Nakajima was worried about her or anything…! He was just trying to avoid needless confrontation; yeah, that’s it.

He nodded to himself as he poked his head inside, confirming with relief that everyone was more than likely far, far away, and stepped out into the hallway. He didn’t actually take the item, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to prove where he found it, and he would have preferred to avoid being accused as the mastermind himself - but the image of the kitsune mask was as clear in his memory as ever. It looked just like the one on the wall of the gallery he’d spotted behind one of the frames before… whatever that meant. Regardless if _that person_ was the mastermind or not, they must have had some connection to them.

Entering his room, he closed the door behind him before he sat down onto the bed, exhaling slowly. What now…? He couldn’t just go up to them and ask; that would be a recipe for disaster. Maybe… if he were to look in the theater…

He almost jumped when he heard a knock on the door.

* * *

 

Seeing Chiba in that kind of position _was_ a little funny, Minamoto had to admit. It wasn’t like he could help it, but… just seeing him sprawled out on several different furnitures throughout the day was an image she was sure she’d never forget.

As she took a seat next to him on a bench in the cafeteria, she hid a teasing grin behind her hand, Chiba pulling himself up with a bit of difficulty to glare at her already before she could even say anything. Not that her expression was making what she was thinking much of a secret.

On the other hand, though…

“How have you been getting around anyway? Kageyama-kun is busy, isn’t he?” Minamoto tilted her head, and Chiba crossed his arms.

“…Dragging myself around…” he muttered under his breath, causing Minamoto to snicker. “S-shut up, geez! I’d like to see you try to get around without using your legs, beanpole.”

To be fair, she had no doubts that she’d be having a much harder time. She was about as far from the athletic type as it could get - she had no trouble admitting that much.

She might have offered to carry Chiba around just to have the upper hand for a while, but despite his incredibly short frame, she was still pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to lift him. Or at least not for an extended period of time, that is…

“Anyway, something’s been on my mind,” she switched topics without bothering to retort, Chiba reluctantly attempting to compose himself just so he could listen properly. “Remember the first document we found about that one program?”

“The one… for the trauma victims, right?” Chiba blinked slowly, trying to recall it. Minamoto nodded.

“I think it’s the serenity software we read about,” upon seeing Chiba’s blank, slightly confused expression, she rolled her eyes dramatically. “Come on, the name itself should be enough of a clue.”

“…I guess…” Chiba crossed his arms, brows furrowing slightly. “What about it?”

“What if…” Minamoto paused for dramatic effect, leaning slightly closer to the boy as she lowered her voice, “we’re in that program right now?”

It took Chiba several seconds to react properly.

“…What?”

“From what I recall…” Minamoto hummed, “it’s a virtual world of some kind, wasn’t it? You customize the environment to the patient’s needs, and, uhm… an avatar is created using their own memories.”

The text was a pretty difficult one, full of complicated words, so she could only remember the most important bits, but hopefully that would be enough. She could always reread it if she had to - although she would have preferred to be spared from the experience. It was like reading a university level textbook.

“If there’s a function that controls the person’s memory… it _would_ explain our presumed memory loss. But even aside from that…” she bit her lip, frowning slightly herself. “It would explain how all the bodies disappear without a trace. I assumed that if they were still on the ship, there was some kind of morgue, but… what if they just pop out of existence?”

“So…” Chiba spoke slowly, as though even he was unsure of himself for a change. “This motive, then… Is that how the mastermind has been pulling it off?”

Minamoto only hesitated for a moment.

“I’ve no other guesses, so most likely…”

How else _would_ they be doing it? It obviously wasn’t magic or something stupid like that, and this was the only way they could explain it.

Chiba slowly shifted from uncomfortable and grumpy to curious and slightly restless as the conversation went on, and Minamoto really couldn’t blame him.

“So then… this paralysis… It’s temporary.”

He breathed the biggest sigh of relief she’d heard him let out just yet.

“Say, Minamoto…” he lifted his gaze again, looking considerably more hopeful than before. “Do you think the others are…?”

_…alive?_

She couldn’t even bring herself to try to respond at first, trying her best to ignore the small tug at her heart strings at that thought. She shouldn’t get her hopes up; it was just going to hurt more if it turned out to be false in the end.

As much as she wanted to believe it… she didn’t dare.

“…I don’t know,” she ended up saying, averting her gaze to stare at the floor instead, her hands curling up into loose fists in her lap. “I might have to read the document over again, but… I don’t think it said anything about that.”

“…Of course it didn’t…”

Chiba sounded clearly disappointed, but at least it didn’t seem like he was going to blame her for it.

He suddenly turned towards her again, lifting his arms, as though expecting to be picked up.

“Give me a lift, would you? If the motive is just temporary, we should tell the others before someone decides to do something stupid.”

That was fair, but…

“I don’t think I can lift you, Chiba-kun…” Minamoto gave a small, nervous smile, Chiba staring back at her incredulously. He must not have been too used to that with his height and all.

“Well, I… would like to keep what I’ve left of my dignity, so I’m going to refrain from crawling on the ground when other people are around,” he dropped his hands back down, visibly frustrated by the situation, but it wasn’t like it could be helped. Minamoto stood up, dusting off her skirt.

“There might be something in the store that you could use as a substitute for a wheelchair. In the meantime, though… I’ll go talk to everyone, okay?” she spun around as she playfully winked, Chiba waving his hand in a dismissive manner.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You do that. I’ll just wait for someone to come by, I guess.”

Minamoto smiled, promptly rushing off.

* * *

 

Hanamiya _just barely_ retained his balance as Minamoto came to a halt in front of him, almost sending both of them crashing to the ground. He raised a brow, opening his mouth to ask her immediately what she was doing running around like that, but she held up her hand for him to wait for her to speak first as she leaned against the wall, attempting to catch her breath.

“Is no one else around?” she finally managed to ask, Hanamiya lazily shaking his head as a response. She let out a small sigh. “Ahh, dammit… I don’t wanna have to repeat myself more than once…”

She lifted one of her hands to bite her nails for a moment, suddenly shaking his head afterwards.

“Alright, there’s a better way to do this. Could you please come to the cafeteria?” she pointed over her shoulder, brushing some of her hair aside in the process. “It’s pretty important; we’d prefer if everyone was present.”

“ _I guess I can…”_ Hanamiya gave a small shrug, Minamoto flashing a quick, thankful smile.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there then. I’ll go see if I can find anyone else.”

Hanamiya watched her disappear behind a corner, then let out a small huff. She should’ve at least apologised for an entrance like that…

But anyway… the cafeteria, huh? It was probably going to be some kind of meeting again - hopefully one worth his time, since Minamoto seemed to be pretty worked up. He… did want to have dinner, though, so might as well check it out at the very least. It couldn’t hurt, right?

If he still had his voice, he would’ve definitely let out a small squeak the moment Kageyama jumped him from behind, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and almost knocking him over in the process.

“How’re you doing, Hanamiya? I haven’t seen you all day long!”

The… hell? Kageyama wasn’t the quiet type, no, but this wasn’t like him at all either.

As soon as Hanamiya shot him a suspicious glance, he seemed to flinch and put on an _extremely_ forced, slightly shaky smile, making it clear that something was up. When Hanamiya turned to the phone to actually ask him about it, though, all he did was tighten his hold, almost choking him in the process.

“Anyway, where are you going? I’ll come with you; I’m pretty bored.”

“ _Cafeteria_ ,” Hanamiya managed to type, attempting to push the guy back to save himself from being strangled, Kageyama loosening his hold pretty fast once again in a rather jumpy manner. Christ, what a terrible liar… But _alright_ , if he didn’t want to tell Hanamiya what he was hiding, he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask - if he was lucky, Kageyama would end up blurting it out on his own.

Once Hanamiya had successfully informed him of what was going on, Kageyama’s nervous attitude gradually mellowed out to one just a _little_ more intense than normal, and Hanamiya couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so relieved to see Chiba and Izumi together - probably never. But hey, at least they weren’t arguing this time around… in fact, they seemed to be having a pretty calm discussion.

Good.

Waiting for the others to arrive, Hanamiya could deal with, and he was in the middle of shoving a rather large piece of bread down his throat when Minamoto got back once again, followed by Sakurauchi. Fujinomiya and Tsutsui had arrived on their own a little while ago, so the only one they were waiting for was Nakajima, but all Minamoto did was shake her head in disbelief.

“I searched the whole place and couldn’t find him. His room is locked, so he might be in there, but he didn’t respond when I called out to him, so…”

She crossed her arms as she puffed her cheeks, seemingly sulking a little.

“How rude to ignore a girl like that…”

“Well, seeing as how we clearly can’t break the door down… all we can do is wait to see if he comes out, huh…” Izumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Either that, or we could try to unscrew the door, I guess. But I don’t think that should be the first thing for us to try.”

Fair enough - Hanamiya would have hated to be yelled at by Nakajima for that.

“Let’s just have this meeting without him, then,” Chiba pursed his lips, his fingers drumming on the table he’d been sitting by. “There’s no point in waiting if we don’t even know if he’s going to come, so we should just have someone fill him in later.”

“Tsutsui?” Kageyama suggested, only to be immediately shot down by Minamoto.

“Hanamiya-kun has her phone.”

It _would_ be rather tedious to have to write everything out.

Before anyone else could step up, Fujinomiya raised her hand.

“I can do that, I think…”

“Great; that’s that, then,” Minamoto dusted her hands off, hopping onto the table instead of a chair and taking up a comfortable position. “This won’t be too long, _Hanamiya-kun,_ so do make sure to stay awake from the whole thing.”

Hanamiya kind of wanted to seem upset at the accusation just for the hell of it, but he gave up halfway through, not wanting to delay what she had to say by acting like a kid. There would be plenty other opportunities for that - like guilt tripping Kageyama into spilling whatever he was so anxious about earlier.

As Minamoto began speaking, Hanamiya propped his chin up with his hand, already waiting for this whole thing to be over so he could satisfy his curiosity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter should be the 4th case victim so i guess look forward to that :0c


	19. The locked-room mystery

Morning came much faster than Hanamiya would’ve expected it to when he happened to wake up before the announcement for a change without needing someone to bang on his door. Instead of falling back asleep, however, how he would’ve done so normally, he reluctantly climbed out of bed to stand in front of the mirror and examine his reflection. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he slowly opened his mouth, only for no sound to come out yet again.

He should’ve expected as much, with Chiba’s case and all.

Stumbling on his feet a little, he turned around to head back to bed before he was stopped by an actual knock on the door this time, leaving him come to a stop in the middle of the room as he sleepily thought his options over. He wasn’t even sure why he was being so indecisive - getting up so early definitely wasn’t part of his to-do list, but the knocking seemed to be pretty persistent, and he was forced to acknowledge that it wouldn’t stop unless he opened the door. Who knows, maybe someone just wanted to borrow something and would let him sleep afterwards.

As fate would have it, however, this didn’t turn out that simple.

Opening the door, Hanamiya came face-to-face with a surprisingly awake Kageyama, and had to squint at him for several seconds to notice that his jacket was gone, leaving him in only a teal, short-sleeved dress shirt.

Maybe he was finally going to confess - Hanamiya didn’t get an opportunity the previous day to try to pry and all, so it would’ve most certainly been welcome.

“ _What…?_ ” Hanamiya yawned, half-asleep enough to almost miss the buttons on Tsutsui’s phone, but Kageyama paid no mind to that.

“You should probably be awake for this.”

Hanamiya stepped outside with a mildly annoyed expression to see what the hell Kageyama was talking about, finding everyone else already standing outside… with the exception of Nakajima, that is. He raised a brow.

“We should just have Chiba-kun kick the door down if it’s really that big of a deal…” Minamoto mumbled with a faint smirk, Chiba sharply elbowing her.

“Yeah, hilarious. I’ll have you know that’ll be the first thing I’ll do to you as soon as I’m able to do that again.”

“We should just unscrew the door like Izumi-san said,” Sakurauchi suggested, fiddling with her hat in her hands. “We can’t just leave him in there… What if he’s hurt or something?”

“Then maybe he shouldn’t have locked himself in there.”

Izumi, who’d been staring at the door intently the entire time, suddenly spoke up.

“Is the door even locked?”

“ _Um_ , no, a magical fairy must be holding it closed, that’s why we can’t open it,” Minamoto rolled her eyes. "You were here when we tried it.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Izumi shook his head, not at all fazed by Minamoto’s attitude. “The doorknob is horizontal… see?”

Stifling a second yawn as he walked closer, Hanamiya took note of the fact himself. Minamoto didn’t seem to get it just yet, though.

“Yeah, so?” she crossed her arms impatiently, her feet tapping on the floor rhythmically.

Izumi stepped up to the door again to touch the doorknob, wrapping his fingers around it.

“If it was locked, the handle would be slightly raised. Judging by the fact that it’s horizontal… Something else must be preventing it from opening.”

Minamoto blushed slightly in embarrassment over not realising that, averting her gaze.

“Ohh, you mean like a chair…?” Kageyama snapped his fingers and Izumi nodded.

“A chair could work, yeah. If you can wedge it underneath the doorknob, it should stop the door from opening fully.”

He began pressing down on the handle as hard as he could, continuing to speak with just a bit of difficulty.

“If it _is_ a chair, and the floor is slick enough, we might be able to get it open…”

It did take him long enough for Hanamiya to almost start wondering if he should just walk off again, but the sudden clattering noise coming from inside the room paired with the handle finally giving way stopped him before he could even take a single step back. Izumi let out a relieved sigh, then blinked when he still wasn’t able to pull the door open.

“This is… surprisingly heavy.”

“Let me see,” Kageyama grabbed the handle himself, gritting his teeth as he began pulling on it. The door did move this time, albeit rather slowly, and Izumi had to help out himself to speed up the process. Although neither of the two were particularly strong, they managed to open the door up properly, Kageyama leaning against it with a heavy sigh to keep it open.

The rest of the group wasn’t concerned with them, though, instead trying to peer inside at first, then poking their heads in one by one when the door had been finally opened.

The first thing that caught Hanamiya’s eye was the chair on the floor, having been tipped over. The second thing was… a long coil of rope attached to the doorknob on the inside. As he followed it with his eyes, his gaze soon settled on the body hanging from the ceiling, ever so slightly swinging back and forth.

He blinked, and the monitor in the room turned on.

“A body has been discovered! I’ll give you some time to investigate before the trial, then it’s showtime.”

* * *

 

Hanamiya really thought they could manage without a death this time - or at least that’s what he’d have wanted to say. The motive didn’t matter at this point… right? They had no reason to kill each other, unless it was… suicide…? But _Nakajima_ wouldn’t do something like that… would he? What reason would he have to do it now of all times?

As he took the tablet Mononeko handed to him, Hanamiya’s gaze turned to the cat first, but Fujinomiya spoke up sooner.

“Would… a suicide count as murder?” she fidgeted timidly, flinching when Mononeko snickered at the question.

“Of course it would. You’d still be killing someone, wouldn’t you?”

Having given out all the tablets by now, he dusted his paws off.

“Either way, you kids better get to investigating. Wouldn’t wanna end up dead if you guess wrong, hm?”

And with that, he simply walked out of the room, humming to himself without a care in the world.

Hanamiya looked down at the file.

_The victim is Nakajima Tooru._

_The body was found hanging from the ceiling in his own room._

_The victim's left wrist and ankle are broken._

_The cause of death is asphyxiation, and the victim's right hand and neck are both heavily bruised._

Well… at least there was a definitive cause of death this time.

Still… there was no time of death, was there? And he’d been missing for almost an entire day by now, from what Hanamiya could tell… There was no way a single person would have an alibi for the entire timeframe, especially with nighttime, and they didn’t have anyone who could guess the time of death from the state of the body itself.

There was also the matter of the door…

Hanamiya let out a frustrated huff.

“For now… how about we split into groups of two instead of going off on our own? We might not have enough time to check the entire place otherwise…” Izumi rubbed his chin, Chiba dramatically shrugging on the side. He’d been using an office chair to get around, having been strapped into it with a belt, pushing himself alongside the wall the entire time. It probably wasn’t the most convenient way to get around, but at least it worked.

“I’d probably just get in the way, so it’s not like I can go anywhere. I can’t even use the stairs by myself…”

He still seemed pretty annoyed about that, but he was making an effort to keep it to himself.

Tsutsui suddenly raised her hand.

“ _I’ll stay here with Chiba-chan_.”

Her eyes were hidden by her hair, leaving practically her entire face covered, but the slight trembling of her hands was all Hanamiya needed to know.

He was expecting Kageyama to immediately swoop down on him to ask him to investigate together, but…

“I, uh…” Kageyama hesitated. “I’ll take the fourth floor with Izumi. There’s something I wanna check.”

Well… _alright then_.

Izumi didn’t seem to have any objections, so the pair soon left to start looking.

Minamoto and Sakurauchi volunteered to go check the second-, and possibly third floors, leaving Fujinomiya to be paired with Hanamiya in charge of the first floor. Not the worst deal, if Hanamiya had to be honest. He wanted to check the room they were in first and foremost, naturally, so he didn’t object.

“W-we should let him down first… right?” Fujinomiya stammered out, repeatedly wiping her hands on her skirt. Chiba was already carefully untying the rope from the door, hoping he could lower the body slowly, but…

Hanamiya tapped his shoulder, gesturing at the ceiling.

“ _There’s a second coil of rope._ ”

Both of them seemed to have been pulled through one of the beams in the ceiling, although unlike the one Chiba was currently holding onto, the other one was tied to some kind of bag. Hanamiya walked up to it to try to lift it first, giving up a few seconds later when he realised how heavy it was and letting it drop back onto the ground. He opened it to find it filled with books, frowning deeply. Who would store books like that…?

“Hanamiya, untie that for us,” Chiba caught his attention again, and Hanamiya raised his hand to object, but dropped it back down in the end. Whatever.

Untying the rope from the bag, he let go of it without further ado, causing Chiba to almost fall out of his chair at the sudden increase in weight, managing to grab onto the doorknob just in time. With an annoyed glare aimed at Hanamiya, he lowered Nakajima’s body carefully, Tsutsui standing underneath to then lay him on his back.

Kneeling down next to him, Tsutsui rolled up his hoodie while the other three slowly approached. Sure enough; there were two pieces of rope around indeed. From what Hanamiya could see, the one that had been tied to the bag ended in a noose around Nakajima’s neck, while the other one had been made into some kind of harness around his torso underneath the hoodie. They didn’t seem to be connected in any way, so… why were there two of them?

Recalling what the file said, he noted the boy’s swollen ankle and wrist, and the fact that he didn’t seem to be wearing his gloves for a change, and was about to move on when he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Tsutsui seemed to pick up on it at the same time, turning Nakajima’s broken hand around with a small wince to see his palm. There seemed to be some kind of writing on it, although it seemed to be _ridiculously_ messy to the point where Hanamiya could barely make out what it said.

‘ _Shadow’_ , was it? Nakajima sure knew how to leave important clues. _Ugh_ , maybe he should show it to Minamoto to see if she can decipher it. Once he asked Tsutsui for permission, she nodded silently, and he lifted the phone to take a picture of the kanji.

Hanamiya finally straightened back up, shaking his head. Better check the rest of the room.

“There’s something over here…”

He looked over to the bed to see Fujinomiya kneeling next to it, reaching underneath with a bit of difficulty to pull out a rather familiar jacket.

“H-hey… doesn’t this belong to…?” she swallowed nervously, unsure if she even wanted to finish the sentence - she didn’t need to, though. Hanamiya would’ve recognised that jacket anywhere.

“Is that blood…?” Chiba blinked several times, attempting to carefully maneuver around in the room so he could check properly. Sure enough; there was a small cut on the sleeve with a small amount of _something red_ around it.

“Does… does this mean Kageyama-kun-“

Hanamiya held up a hand to cut Fujinomiya off without a moment of hesitation.

Kageyama of all people wouldn’t do something like that; Hanamiya was sure of that. Besides, the culprit wouldn’t leave such a vital clue in such an obvious place like that… Kageyama could be a bit of an airhead sometimes, but he wasn’t _that_ stupid. Surely, someone was just trying to frame him.

Shaking his head quickly to brush off the need to constantly reassure himself, Hanamiya crouched down himself to see if he could find anything else under the bed. It took him a moment to notice it, but when he reached underneath, his fingers grasped something. It seemed to be… a broken piece of wood…?

Glancing around in the room, his gaze settled on the wall next to the bed, having to stare at it for several seconds before it clicked. The piece he found… it was from a shelf that was missing from the wall, wasn’t it? It took him a moment to get the other half of it outside, but it seemed like he was right after all. Their rooms had been the exact same layout up until now; there was no reason why Nakajima’s would be any different.

He flinched slightly when he heard a shriek from behind him, spotting Chiba clinging to a shelf himself as he stared at the floor with the most offended look Hanamiya had seen him wear so far.

“Who the _hell_ just leaves a pen lying around on the floor!?”

Hanamiya walked closer without sparing a single look of sympathy for the boy, picking up said object to turn it around in his hand. The tip of it seemed to be bent slightly - that might’ve been Chiba tripping over it -, but more importantly, some blood seemed to have dried on it. Couldn’t have been from Nakajima, that was for sure - he had no injuries whatsoever that could’ve caused him to bleed. Before Hanamiya stood up again, though, he just barely spotted something else on the floor, reaching down to grab it.

This time, he found some kind of screw. He furrowed his brows, straightening up slowly and ignoring Chiba’s grumbling to check the nearest location the screw could’ve come from: the door. Upon inspecting the lock from up close, he nodded to himself. There was a screw missing. But why was it missing from _this_ side…? He could understand someone trying to open the door up, but why would someone who was inside want to do that?

Adjusting his glasses slightly, he took a step back.

* * *

 

“If only we had a hint of what we’re looking for, huh…”

“If we’re taking it literally, some kind of key,” Izumi tapped his chin, digging around in the box of props he decided to check for now. “You’ve already searched this room with Chiba-kun, haven’t you? Either what we need is in a place you missed, or we’re looking in the wrong room.”

“I guess…” Kageyama frowned.

If they were looking for a key, it wasn’t too unthinkable that he would’ve missed something along the way; he didn’t check the props and whatnot too carefully, after all. Maybe he should’ve, but there were just way too many of them…

Subtly touching his pocket, he wondered if he should tell Hanamiya about the key he found after all. The flat look the boy gave him when he announced he’d be going with Izumi along with having to keep a secret _in general_ made him feel pretty guilty. They didn’t even have time to tell _anyone_ else about the writing on the wall, for better or for worse.

“You okay there?”

He lifted his head to see Izumi staring at him, and adjusted his hat a few times with an uncomfortable expression.

“I’m just wondering if we should tell anyone else about… you know.”

“Because of what Mononeko said?” Izumi tilted his head, and Kageyama gave a halfhearted shrug.

“…Yeah. I just don’t wanna mess up again.”

“To be fair…” Izumi crouched down to open up another box, “there are cameras over the whole place. I doubt the mastermind would be unaware that we found it.”

Ah. That had _completely_ slipped his mind. Trying his best to look like he knew that all along, Kageyama resumed looking around himself.

“On the other hand…” Izumi hummed, “if we keep it to ourselves, there’s a small chance the mastermind might give themselves away. If we’re the only ones who found it - which, I think, we might be -, they might give themselves away by letting it slip that they know about it.”

“Ohh…” Kageyama nodded along before realising something. “Why do you think that no one else has found it, though? They could just be keeping it to themselves like us…”

“I think they’d be looking here themselves if they knew about it.”

To be fair, Kageyama had quite a bit of difficulty finding the right room himself, so he wouldn’t have blamed them. A kitsune mask… the theater couldn’t have been the only place where you could find such a thing, right? The store might have something like that as well…

Just as he finished that train of thought, he came across something _extremely_ suspicious in the pile.

Lifting out a kitsune mask, he held it up in the air to stare at it intently before simply placing it on his own face, turning around to look at Izumi pulling out a sword from behind one of the suit of armor costumes, waving it around in the air.

“Ahh, I wish I had one of these at home… It looks so cool…!”

“I’m more of a firearm kinda guy,” Kageyama shrugged, but walked closer to check it out himself anyway. Izumi almost sounded offended.

“It’s lighter than the real thing, but it could totally pass as a real one, that’s for sure! Although…”

His voice suddenly trailed off, and he held it closer to examine the blade with a deep frown before he suddenly stood up to walk past Kageyama without even looking at him, glancing into the trash bin in the room then back at the sword.

“Well… I think it’s safe to say we’ve found a new clue. Kageyama-kun, could you-“

He stopped speaking as soon as he got a proper look at Kageyama, burying his face in his hand for a second before counting to three in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Kageyama-kun, what are you doing?”

“You were messing around with that sword too…” Kageyama pouted, walking closer to peer into the trash. “What were you looking at anyway?”

“…There’s blood on it,” Izumi held up the blade for Kageyama to see, gesturing towards the end of it. “Although… there’s not much. Plus… see here?” he tapped a specific part of it. “It’s hard to see, but there’s a small crack.”

It may have been because of the mask, but it took Kageyama a bit too long to notice what Izumi was pointing out. Peering back inside the bin properly this time, he noticed a cloth inside, soaked with blood. Someone probably used it to clean the sword with it. But _Nakajima_ had no blood on him, right? So whose blood was this then?

Kageyama pushed the mask up quickly so he could get a better look at the sword this time when it suddenly made a clattering sound, causing him to freeze. Izumi blinked.

“Did you break it?”

“Pretty sure I didn’t…” Kageyama furrowed his brows, removing the mask to stare at it in his hands. Examining it from every side carefully, he waited a few seconds before shaking it around in his hands, the mask making the same sound again.

He looked back up at Izumi, who took the mask to look at it himself.

“It’s probably hollow inside… I have no idea what’s making that sound though.”

Should they try to get it open? They couldn’t just break it, though…

Izumi turned the mask around to examine every side, fingers tracing the marks attentively, as though trying to find the odd one out. He paused before turning it over once again to look at the inside part.

“Kageyama-kun… Look at this.”

He held it up for Kageyama to see, tapping a specific part with his finger. At first, Kageyama wasn’t even sure what he was looking for, but he soon picked up on the small hatch Izumi was pointing out. It was pretty hard to notice with it being positioned near the top of the forehead part.

“Ehh…? Can we open it?”

“We might need a coin or something…” Izumi let out a sigh. It did seem like they had to unscrew it before they could get it open. “Would a coin even be small enough?”

Kageyama hummed before he reached into his pocket, digging around to see what he could find.

There was the key, of course, but aside from that… there was an empty package of gum and nothing else. Figures. He drew his hand back to comb his fingers through his hair before shrugging his shoulders.

“Ah, well… Let’s look in the store later, then. There’s probably something we can use.”

Izumi agreed to it without much of an objection, taking it upon himself to hold onto the mask in the meantime. _Kageyama_ wasn’t going to complain.

* * *

 

“Minamoto-san…? Are you alright?”

It took Minamoto a moment to snap back to reality, and she gave the other girl a weak smile.

“Sorry, I spaced out. I’ll continue looking.”

She walked ahead in the hallway in the direction of the infirmary this time, hoping to finally find something. She knew there was a chance they could easily miss something with a place this big, but that didn’t make it a lot easier to focus. To think that someone like Nakajima would choose to commit suicide…

Maybe she should’ve expected something like that to happen sooner or later; the guy was pretty gloomy. They didn’t get to talk much, but he’d made it abundantly clear over the course of the killing game so far. And it wasn’t like he was there for the meeting about the virtual world theory and all…

Well, there was no use thinking about that now; she really had to stop jumping to conclusions so fast. Hopefully the others could discover something before they ran out of time…

Minamoto stopped right in the doorway.

“…Sakurauchi-san… Do you think Nakajima-kun…?”

She didn’t finish the sentence, but Sakurauchi got what she meant regardless. The girl averted her gaze, fiddling with the hem of her shirt, as though unsure of how to reply to that.

“I wouldn’t know that, Minamoto-san. I can count on one hand the amount of times we’ve talked, probably…”

Yeah, that was more than likely most people here when it came to Nakajima.

“But…” Sakurauchi hesitantly looked back at her again, “I’d like to think that there’s still something we can do. Even if it’s not right away, as long as we can figure out how this world functions… there’s hope.”

Minamoto couldn’t hold back a dry laugh.

“Yeah, if only we could figure that out, huh… Too bad that might not end up happening at this rate. If we need the mastermind to push us along every step of the way… we must be pretty pathetic.”

Sakurauchi pursed her lips before she reached for Minamoto’s hands, startling her slightly as she looked into her eyes with a determined face. She tightened her hold a little before Minamoto could even attempt to pull away.

“I can’t tell you anything just yet, but… promise me not to lose faith. We’ll definitely manage as long as we don’t give up.”

She bit her lip, hesitating for a second before she continued.

“After the trial… meet me in the bath.”

Minamoto stared back with a blank expression at first, not knowing what to make of all of that. Sakurauchi was acting _just a bit_ strange, wasn’t she? But… then again, the bath _was_ the only place without cameras; maybe she had something to tell her that she couldn’t afford the mastermind to know.

Before Minamoto realised, her hands had been dropped once again, and Sakurauchi gave her head a small pat as she walked past her to step into the room.

“Ah… has that cabinet always been open?”

Minamoto turned her head to see what Sakurauchi was talking about to see that the door of one of the cabinets had been left slightly open. She briefly wondered how whoever did that managed to convince Mononeko to open it up for them, when she remembered…

The cabinets were only going to stay locked until Komatsu was in the game.

She walked up to it to peer inside before opening it properly, discovering it to be filled with a bunch of bandages. Did someone get injured recently…? She couldn’t recall anyone mentioning anything…

“Do you think Nakajima-san might’ve taken something?” Sakurauchi glanced past Minamoto’s shoulders, who in turn, shrugged. She didn’t see any bandages on him in the brief period of time she spent examining the body, but she supposed it was possible that the others could have discovered something else. In any case, there was no use throwing blind guesses just yet.

Minamoto let out a deep sigh, crossing her arms.

* * *

 

“Time’s up, children! Gather in front of the Mononeko statue if you don’t want to be skewered anytime soon.”

The announcement came, and Hanamiya wiped his forehead. He’d combed through the entire first floor pretty thoroughly with Fujinomiya, although he didn’t end up finding anything outside of Nakajima’s room in the end. He had to be honest, he only had a vague idea about the culprit’s identity, and… even if his suspicions were true, that was only going to make figuring it out harder for them. The only thing he was sure of was that they could rule out suicide, and… as foolish as it may have been to eliminate someone from the list of suspects like that, he was quite certain it wasn’t Tsutsui.

Hanamiya may not have been the most optimistic guy around, but he wasn’t a pessimist either.

When he spotted Kageyama on the first floor, though, instead of going to the statue to wait for him there, he walked straight up to him to grab onto his shirt, tugging on it multiple times as Kageyama stared back at him in a confused manner.

“ _Tell me what you were being so secretive about yesterday_.”

Kageyama opened his mouth before closing it, reaching up to nervously mess around with his hat. Hanamiya stood in his way persistently with his arms crossed, waiting for him to _at least_ refuse if he didn’t want to say anything, and Kageyama let out a sigh, lowering his voice enough for Hanamiya to have to lean closer to listen properly.

“I found a key behind one of the frames in the Mononeko gallery, but I haven’t told anyone else yet. I, uhm… don’t really know what to do with it.”

Hanamiya pushed his glasses up.

“ _You_ do _know that the mastermind probably already knows about it anyway, right?_ ”

“I know, I know…” Kageyama grimaced slightly, letting his hand drop again. “I was just trying to be careful, I guess.”

Hanamiya had to admit he would’ve _maybe_ sulked a _tiny, tiny_ bit if he hadn’t also been the first one that Kageyama happened to tell about the key apparently. Although the fact that he found it in such a place did leave him wondering about a few things…

“… _We don’t really know anyone else but the mastermind who could’ve left it there_ ,” Hanamiya mused, tapping his chin slowly with his free hand. “ _But it’s also possible it was done by an outsider who’s working against them, I’ve no idea._ ”

He paused for a moment.

“ _For now, make sure to carry it with you at all times just in case, alright? If it was left there by the mastermind, they won’t try to steal it back. If it wasn’t… well, that’s why you’ll need to be careful with it._ ”

“Yeah, I know,” Kageyama nodded, visibly relieved that Hanamiya was handling the situation with his usual composure. “There’s some more stuff too but… it might be better to leave that for after the trial.”

Better to get the most urgent things done first, huh?

Hanamiya gave a small nod, grabbing Kageyama by the wrist to finally drag him over to the statue - or rather, try his best to seem like he was doing that by walking ahead. He probably wouldn’t have been able to move Kageyama an inch, had he seriously tried to resist.

Once he saw Tsutsui approach as well, he glanced down at the phone for a second. He should probably give it back now, at least for the trial, if nothing else… She may have been the one who offered to lend it to him, but having her use a notepad just seemed… kind of rude. Well, ruder than Hanamiya was willing to be, at least.

Holding out the cellphone towards her, he waiter for her to take it, but she hesitated, clutching the notepad to her chest before she quickly began scribbling on it.

“ _Please keep it until your voice comes back._ ”

She was avoiding eye contact - she must’ve been still pretty shaken about the whole thing. If letting Hanamiya use her phone was helping her in some way somehow… he supposed it might be fine to do so just a little longer.

He gave a hesitant nod, and Tsutsui lowered her head to stare at the floor instead.

The space in the elevator just kept getting bigger, and Hanamiya wasn’t glad about the lack of a crowd for a change. They started out with 16 students, now only half of them were left… Would they leave with 7 once the trial was over? Would they have to witness another one of those executions? If his theory was correct, though… this trial wouldn’t end like the previous ones, one way or another…

The court room was more or less the same as always, with the exception of a third throne behind the usual two, as well as Takahashi’s and Nakajima’s portraits, the former being crossed out with a pair of violin bows, the latter with a pair of pens. Mononeko was sitting on the newest throne, the other two being empty for a change - that was no surprise, with Kuroneko and Shironeko gone.

“Welcome, welcome!” he greeted them cheerfully, waving the scepter in his hand that Kuroneko had been using up until now. “Everyone is here, correct? We may start the trial as soon as you all stand in the spots assigned to you.”

Hanamiya did so without much of an argument, closing his eyes for a few seconds to try to organize his thoughts as much as he could before the discussion could start. They’d gotten through this 3 times already, why was he still having so much trouble focusing…?

He shook his head with a faint frown of annoyance, opening his eyes again to see Kageyama staring at him curiously. With a subtle shrug of his shoulders, he forced himself to concentrate on the matter at hand once again.

The trial begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaight only the trial is left and chapter 4 will be done with  
> it will be a very special trial though 


	20. Injustice

The first and most concerning issue was rather obvious - none of them had an alibi. They didn’t even have a reliable time frame for the murder - not that it would’ve helped much since they were all separated the entire night. Or at least as far as Hanamiya was aware… It would have helped a _lot_ if they could narrow it down to sometime during the day, but he really couldn’t think of any way they could have done that.

They really should’ve been faster with getting Nakajima’s room open.

Hanamiya let out a sigh.

“So… how are we starting this time?” Sakurauchi tilted her head, Minamoto crossing her arms on the side.

“We have the cause of death, at least,” she furrowed her brows, tapping one of her feet rhythmically. That was one less thing to worry about, yeah… Although the lack of any other fatal injuries made it clear enough. “As for… the murder weapon or whatever, it’s fairly obvious.”

“Do we know if he… you know…?” Kageyama started, unsure of what phrase would be appropriate to use.

“Killed himself?” Minamoto finished the thought for him without a moment of hesitation, shaking her head afterwards. Kageyama winced a little upon her saying it so bluntly before his expression shifted back to a more neutral one. “I doubt it. I mean… you saw all the injuries he had.”

“But the door was locked when we got there, wasn’t it? Or barricaded, at least,” Kageyama rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Yeah; even if they ended up being able to push the chair out of the way, the fact of the matter was that there was no way someone could have set it up from outside of the room. “You don’t think someone moved the chair over there from outside, do you?”

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Izumi nodded, frowning slightly. “Something like string wouldn’t work with a chair that heavy… and I don’t think there was anything on the chair itself that could’ve been used for a trick like that.”

Not unless the culprit removed it before they could check properly… But Hanamiya couldn’t recall anyone acting suspicious like that, so he had to assume that nothing special had been done to the chair.

“Putting that aside for now,” Chiba interrupted after a short moment of silence, “there’s something that we should get out of the way before that. Kageyama, what happened to your jacket?”

Hanamiya froze at the question, but didn’t add his own two cents about it just yet - he _was_ curious himself how it could have ended up underneath Nakajima’s bed. Kageyama… wouldn’t have left it in such a place, yeah.

“My jacket?” Kageyama echoed, looking a little confused about the question. “I couldn’t find it this morning, so I figured I must’ve misplaced it somewhere.”

Lord; with that level of awareness, the culprit hardly had a hard time trying to steal it. As far as Hanamiya knew, Kageyama could’ve just left his door open for anyone to enter while he was asleep; he honestly wouldn’t have been surprised. Considering the fact that Kageyama didn’t seem to have any idea about where it could be, they probably did take it while he was resting.

“You didn’t bother looking for it?” Minamoto gave him a skeptical look, and he shrugged his shoulders, not really thinking much of it.

“It’s just a jacket. It’s not like I need it right now anyway. It’s not exactly freezing.”

Hanamiya could definitely sympathize with the sentiment.

“We, uh… found your jacket in Nakajima’s room under the bed,” Chiba glanced off to the side for a moment, visibly awkward about the whole thing. He probably didn’t want to suspect Kageyama either. With the first case starting to feel old by now, Kageyama was pretty hard to dislike, and as explosive as Chiba could be, he clearly held no grudge against the guy.

Kageyama blinked several times, as though not even comprehending the statement at first.

“You… did?”

“O-one of the sleeves had a hole in it, b-but… it was your jacket, yes,” Fujinomiya spoke up, nervously fiddling with her glasses. “And… there was blood on it too.”

Well, as far as they knew, at least - Hanamiya hadn’t forgotten a single time when they ended up getting something like that wrong in the previous cases. Hopefully this time around they wouldn’t end up missing any crucial details…

Minamoto opened her mouth, seemingly to comment on the whole thing before closing it promptly to keep whatever she’d been about to say to herself. That might’ve been for the best - at least she’d gotten better at not dragging out the trials. Perhaps Hanamiya should congratulate her on that sometime - or perhaps not; even if he meant it as a genuine compliment, she’d end up taking it as an insult. Which… it kind of was, in a backhanded way.

“But… my jacket was just fine before I went to bed, though,” Kageyama frowned, having trouble understanding what the other two were getting at. “And I haven’t been to Nakajima’s room before either.”

Yeah, Hanamiya highly doubted _any_ of them had been. He’d managed to spot Nakajima leaving and entering his room occasionally, but the guy was obviously trying his best to avoid everyone, and seeing him outside of a meeting or trial was a rare sight.

Tsutsui seemed to scribble something onto the notepad before she changed her mind, subtly shaking her head.

Izumi turned his head to give Kageyama a long, prying look - albeit not looking half as suspicious as Minamoto. She… may have been the most suspicious one here, actually, but Hanamiya really couldn’t blame her for that, _especially_ after what happened to Takahashi during the last trial. Not that she had ever been the most trusting person to begin with…

“…Kageyama-kun, did you-“

“ _I have an explanation for that, actually._ ”

All eyes turned to Hanamiya, and he swallowed nervously. He almost hit the wrong button a few times - speaking out loud really would’ve been much better. Now that he had already started, though… he had to finish it properly. If he couldn’t defend Kageyama properly, after all, they might end up voting for the wrong person in the end.

“ _I mean, wouldn’t it be strange for Kageyama-kun to just leave his jacket there if he really was the culprit? The ship is pretty big; if I was him, I’d definitely hide it far away from the crime scene._ ”

“There was still blood on it, though…” Minamoto muttered. Hanamiya exhaled slowly.

“ _I do think whoever was wearing it at the time got injured, but I don’t think it was Kageyama-kun. I think… the culprit of this case was trying to frame him._ ”

Which, really, should have been obvious enough for everyone else as well - but he kept his complaints about that to himself. It wasn’t like the accusations were aggressive or anything anyway…

“They _could_ have taken his jacket during nighttime…” Izumi hummed, seemingly convinced by Hanamiya’s theory. Well, he of all people should know enough about being framed and whatnot - at least Hanamiya could rely on him for that, if nothing else.

Kageyama glanced between the two of them repeatedly, adjusting his hat afterwards sheepishly.

“Why frame me of all people though…?”

“ _You’re an easy target. You’re not nearly careful enough,_ ” Hanamiya replied immediately, leaving Kageyama with an expression the mix of slightly offended and incredulous before he rolled his eyes lightly.

“Guess I can’t argue with that.”

His tone was light enough to let Hanamiya know that he’d taken it as a light jab at his overly laidback attitude, and nothing more, leaving Hanamiya satisfied that he wouldn’t need to explain himself any further, or god forbid, apologise for the remark.

This was the point Tsutsui chose to interrupt, her handwriting a little messier than usual with the hurried manner she was handling her pen and all.

“ _If Kageyama-chan was framed, what about the dying message?_ ”

With half the people having no idea what she was talking about, she clumsily attempted to explain herself with sign language before she shook her head, looking straight at Hanamiya instead while pointing at her hand. It took Hanamiya a moment to get the memo, and he turned to the phone again to find the picture he’d taken.

“ _There was some writing on Nakajima-kun’s hand… although I don’t really know what it means._ ”

“Let me see,” Minamoto perked up, hoping to be useful somehow. Hanamiya held out to phone for her to look at, and she leaned over her podium eagerly, making a low humming sound as she examined the picture.

After a few more seconds, she spoke up, slowly scanning the court room beforehand as her gaze gradually settled on Kageyama.

“Kageyama-kun… what’s the first kanji of your last name again?”

Ah. Tsutsui nodded multiple times, as though that’s what she’d been trying to say, and Hanamiya bit his lip. Would it be unthinkable that the culprit had been the one to write that? Because it _obviously_ wasn’t Kageyama… right?

“Uhm…” Fujinomiya fidgeted, catching everyone else’s attention. “If the culprit was wearing Kageyama-kun’s jacket, couldn’t Nakajima-kun have mistaken them for him?”

Maybe if he had Hanamiya’s sight without his glasses… although even with that, it would have been a _tiny_ bit far-fetched.

“I don’t think that’s how it works, Fujinomiya-san…” Sakurauchi smiled nervously, but Fujinomiya wasn’t done yet.

“A-ahh, no, I mean…” she dropped her hands as she weakly shook her head, visibly having trouble with her words. “Uhm… I’m talking about the motive this time around… T-the… talent erasure…”

At first, Hanamiya wasn’t sure what she was getting at, but an idea slowly rose from the back of his mind. The motive for this time… Nothing happened the previous day, right? Not as far as he could remember, at least, and everyone else seemed to be doing just fine when it came to their physical states, so…

“Ahh, now that you mention it… Nobody was picked yesterday,” Izumi mused, recalling the previous day’s events.

“Unless they don’t know about it…” Chiba shrugged. While that was certainly possible, Hanamiya couldn’t help but side with Fujinomiya on this one - even if it was out of mere wishful thinking. As long as it would help with proving Kageyama’s innocence, it was good enough for him.

“I think Fujinomiya-san might be suggesting that Nakajima-kun could have been the one to have been picked yesterday,” Izumi continued without acknowledging Chiba’s comment. Minamoto pursed her lips.

“Couldn’t he have just been killed during the day? There wouldn’t be any need for a third person in that case.”

“No, definitely not,” Izumi shook his head right away. “Kageyama-kun’s jacket was just fine during the meeting in the evening, so regardless of whether it was him who was wearing it or not, the murder had to have taken place after that.”

Yeah, Hanamiya was sure of that as well. He practically followed Kageyama to his room after the meeting, after all, all too eager to discover what he’d been hiding, and he would’ve picked up on it, had his jacket been ripped or bloody. Although… that may have stood true for everyone else as well.

“The nighttime announcement played pretty soon after, so… nighttime then,” Sakurauchi sighed.

Kind of the opposite of the outcome Hanamiya had been hoping for, but he supposed it couldn’t have been helped.

“It’s… as Izumi-kun said, y-yes. None of us have had anything happen to us, right?” Fujinomiya continued. “With Nakajima-kun’s talent… it’s possible that it had something to do with his eyesight. And if the lights were off in the room, that would make it harder to see as well…”

That… was more believable that whatever Hanamiya had been imagining. He supposed it _could_ have been possible that someone else ended up being unable to use their talent, but… it wouldn’t really work as a motive if the person didn’t notice it, right? It would make much more sense if the person it affected this time was Nakajima.

“Wait, wait… we can prove who it was pretty easily, can’t we?” Chiba suddenly snapped his fingers. “We just need to check if anyone here has an injury on their forearm.”

“Ah-“ Minamoto flinched, averting her gaze. “B-but someone could’ve gotten hurt in some other way too, right? It’s not like that just by itself would be enough…”

Oh? From the restless, slightly anxious way she seemed to be acting, either she was uncomfortable with getting undressed - which seemed just a tad too unlikely with her exposed thighs and the ease she handled those kinds of subjects -, or… she just _really_ didn’t want to be suspected.

“They blood on the jacket could also be from the infirmary…” Sakurauchi tapped her chin. “Minamoto-san and I found the cupboard with all the bandages wide open, but it’s not like we could tell whether someone had taken any or not.”

“Actually,” Kageyama tilted his head, “even if the culprit _had_ gotten injured, there’s no reason for it to have been on the forearm, right?”

If anything, since the jacket had been planted as evidence, it would make much more sense if their injury was somewhere else. There was no reason for them to pick the same spot - that would only make it easier to find the culprit in the end.

“If the blood on the jacket isn’t from them, then yeah…” Izumi sighed, Minamoto visibly relaxing.

“What are _you_ being so nervous about?” Chiba raised a brow as he turned to Minamoto, causing her to flinch before she lifted her scarf to bury her face in it.

“…I slipped in the shower and cut myself by accident…”

 _Of course she did._ Somehow, Hanamiya wasn’t even surprised.

A few students couldn’t help but snicker, Minamoto puffing her cheeks as she dropped her hands, face bright red.

“S-shut up, it wasn’t my fault!”

As much as Hanamiya would have enjoyed watching her little outburst unfold upon being asked to strip anyway, he doubted the majority of the others would be willing to go along with a full body examination just to look for a potential cut - especially not the girls -, so there was really nothing they could do about that right now. Maybe… he should remember it as a last resort, though. _Just in case…_

“Putting that aside…” Izumi cleared his throat, doing his best to compose his expression, albeit the slight shaking of his shoulders not going unnoticed by anyone. “I do think the culprit must have gotten injured in some way, even not on the shoulder itself. Kageyama-kun and I found some blood on a sword in the theater’s storage.”

Ah, when him and Kageyama went off by themselves. Sending a quick, flat look in Kageyama’s direction, that went completely unnoticed by the other boy, Hanamiya waited for him to speak instead of commenting on it, not wanting to interrupt with pointless comments.

“Ohh, yeah,” Kageyama recalled. “There was a bloody rag in the trash as well. But, uh… I don’t really know why it couldn’t have been fake.”

“If it _was_ fake, I don’t think they would’ve tried to hide it like that,” Izumi explained, combing his fingers through his hair. “To use a weapon like that… They could’ve just grabbed a knife from the kitchen; it would’ve been closer to Nakajima-kun’s room, and there would have been less of a risk when it came to being spotted. I think they picked that weapon specifically in hopes that it wouldn’t be found.”

Even if they were looking for something _both_ heavy and sharp, the store had plenty of things they could pick from… Either the culprit intended to show off - highly unlikely, but an entertaining idea nevertheless -, or it was indeed the real weapon used like Izumi said. Naturally, Hanamiya was much more inclined to believe the latter.

“ _But Nakajima-chan didn’t have any cuts on him whatsoever, did he?_ ” Tsutsui was quick to bring that up, only for Fujinomiya to bite her lip before she provided a response.

“But… he did have some broken bones, didn’t he? What if… the culprit took the sword to use originally but only ended up injuring him?”

“It would certainly be heavy enough for that,” Izumi hummed. “I do wonder how Nakajima-kun managed to injure them, though.”

“Nakajima… was a pretty weak guy, wasn’t he?” Chiba crossed his arms. “I doubt he could’ve taken it from them, especially if they broke his wrist and ankle first.”

Obviously not; even someone like Chiba would’ve had a hard time with half his limbs being unusable and all - although his height _may_ have played a tiny part in that as well.

“If they got into some kind of struggle, it could’ve happened during that, maybe,” Kageyama suggested. “The sword was pretty sharp; the culprit could’ve been injured without Nakajima having to take it from them.”

Good point; even if Nakajima wasn’t particularly strong, something like that wasn’t impossible. And if the culprit themselves wasn’t too clever at handling a weapon like that, it would support the theory even more.

“The culprit must’ve been a special kind of idiot, huh…” Minamoto muttered, having recovered from her embarrassment from earlier. “Getting injured by their own weapon…”

Hanamiya had to admit he found that a little amusing himself; they should’ve just taken something smaller and easier to handle in the first place. Maybe they _were_ trying to show off by grabbing something like a _sword_ ; either that, or they were really weren’t thinking.

“Ah, but wait…” Chiba blinked as though he just remembered something. “Hanamiya, remember the pen I tripped over? There was some blood on that, wasn’t there?”

Hanamiya paused, the detail having slipped his mind. It wasn’t like he couldn’t explain it, though.

“ _I think that must have been fake like the jacket. It was in a pretty obvious place; it’d be a good replacement for the actual weapon._ ”

“ _I agree with that,_ ” Tsutsui averted her gaze for a moment. “ _Or, at the very least, small pen like that wouldn’t cause Kageyama-chan’s jacket to rip in such a way, so it couldn’t have been used for that._ ”

Good, that was one less thing out of the way then.

Perhaps Hanamiya should’ve been more worried that they weren’t exactly narrowing down the identity of the culprit, but… for a change, he wasn’t quite as anxious as he should have been. He wasn’t going to speak up about his theory until he was sure, which, he was nowhere near, but he definitely wasn’t forgetting about it. Which… he wasn’t sure if he should be glad about.

“So…” Minamoto brushed some of her hair out of her face, subtly playing with her scarf afterwards, “the culprit stole Kageyama-kun’s jacket and put it on, then took the sword from the theater and attacked Nakajima-kun with it. Nakajima-kun mistook them for Kageyama-kun and wrote part of his name down, then… the culprit broke his wrist and ankle. Then what, they just hung him up?”

“Well, he obviously didn’t do it to himself,” Chiba breathed a small sigh. “As for all the rope, it could be from anywhere at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if the culprit had just taken it from the store.”

“How did they leave the room, though?” Kageyama frowned, just a little frustrated that they still haven’t gotten that out of the way. “They obviously had to get in and out somehow, but the chair was in the way.”

True. Hanamiya really only had one way to explain that.

“Do you think Nakajima-kun put the chair there?” Sakurauchi brought it up, only for Tsutsui to shake her head.

“ _I don’t think Nakajima-chan did it himself,_ ” she paused for a moment, furrowing her brows slightly as she tapped the paper with her pen repeatedly. “ _Someone was trying to open the door from the inside, most likely before the chair was even put there._ ”

Ah, that’s right… Tsutsui must have found the screw as well.

“ _There was a screw on the floor that was missing from the door_ ,” Hanamiya recalled, pushing his glasses up afterwards. “ _It couldn’t have just fallen out on its own, and I don’t see why someone would try to remove it other than trying to open the door_.”

“ _Also, about the pen Hanamiya-chan found…_ ” Tsutsui took the lead once more. “ _It was a little bent; I think it must have been used to remove the screw. I don’t think Chiba-chan simply rolling over it would have bent it so much_.”

“But the key was on the inside too, right? They could’ve just used that…” Chiba blinked, obviously quite puzzled. Hanamiya took a deep breath.

Should he bring it up _now_ …? He couldn’t be the only one to have thought of this, right? And even if he was, wouldn’t it be better to exhaust every other option before he jumped straight to a conclusion like that?

Feeling Tsutsui’s stare bore into him expectantly along with several others, he shook his head. Might as well get it over with as soon as possible.

“ _I think it was the mastermind._ ”

Silence fell upon the court room for almost a whole minute, as he expected. It was no surprise, really - to suggest something like that… how were they going to vote? It wasn’t like they had any clues as to who the mastermind would be, and… they couldn’t just _guess_ …

“Why… exactly do you think that?” Minamoto asked, glancing around to see everyone else’s reactions, most of them either shocked or skeptical.

Well… time to put the theory to the test.

“ _First, because of the locked room itself. Only the mastermind would be able to get in and out of a room without having to use the door, by using the trap doors the cats have been going through. There’s the fact that the motive_ conveniently _ended up assisting them as well, not to mention that the mastermind would have the easiest job stealing Kageyama-kun’s jacket out of everyone_. _And... if the mastermind had locked his door, it would explain the missing screw and whatnot._ ”

He breathed a sigh.

“ _Also… there was a broken shelf underneath the bed. Since it’s against the rules to destroy the ship’s property… it could have been only broken by the mastermind_.”

While it was still possible that one of the cats had destroyed it themselves, or that it was like that to begin with from the start and Nakajima just didn’t mention anything about it, the mastermind just seemed… considerably more likely. They clearly had no problem with bending the rules, so straight up breaking them in secret wasn’t anything unexpected, at least not in Hanamiya’s eyes.

“B-but… if it _was_ the mastermind, there’s no way we can vote correctly…” Fujinomiya squeaked, visibly growing more and more anxious by the minute.

Hanamiya’s explanation made sense, which made it all the more worrisome.

As Tsutsui raised her hand, everyone who’d been about to start speaking all at once stopped to turn their attention towards her, hoping that she would be able to either refute what Hanamiya said, or provide an alternative solution somehow.

“ _While I do agree with what Hanamiya-chan said about the mastermind being the one to come up with the plan… I don’t think they’re the one we need to vote for._ ”

She shot a flat glance towards Mononeko, closing her eyes before she continued.

“ _Mononeko hasn’t interrupted even once… which leads me to believe that the mastermind has nothing to worry about. There must be something that we missed, I’m sure of it._ ”

Mononeko stifled a quiet snicker as he took up a more comfortable position, but as Tsutsui said, he didn’t seem like he was going to add anything. It did seem strange that he wouldn’t want to prevent them from convicting the mastermind, even if they would have an _extremely_ hard time trying to find their identity at this point. Furthermore… the mastermind couldn’t possibly want to execute themselves, right? And to have everyone else but them executed instead… that just seemed illogical for the person behind a killing game like this.

“What else is there to talk about, though?” Kageyama frowned, everyone at once trying their best to think of something. As Fujinomiya slowly raised her hand, her voice only shook a tiny bit more than usual.

“U-uhm… what about the rope that was used t-to suspend Nakajima-kun?”

“The rope, huh…” Chiba furrowed his brows. “I still don’t get why the mastermind needed two of them.”

“Weren’t they just trying to make it look like a suicide?” Sakurauchi tilted her head, Minamoto immediately disagreeing.

“They _might_ have wanted to give off that impression, but they sure as hell didn’t take it seriously. They didn’t even take off his shoes, or try to write a fake letter…”

It _was_ quite strange; why would they go through the hassle of hanging him up in such a way? It couldn’t have been the fact that one coil of rope wasn’t enough to hold him up - that was made clear enough when Chiba let down the body.

Izumi’s hand shot up like a bullet.

“It _was_ a suicide after all, wasn’t it?”

“Uhm, Izumi-kun…” Minamoto let out a small huff, placing her hands on her hips. “You’ve been paying attention, haven’t you? It’s clearly not.”

“Ahh, that’s not what I mean,” Izumi dropped his hand before shaking his head quite vehemently. “It was a suicide by the killing game’s rules. We need to vote for Nakajima-kun.”

By the killing game’s rules… That was a pretty vague statement.

“Remember Hayama-san’s case; she was killed by the motive set up by the mastermind, yet according to the rules, she ended up without a killer,” Izumi explained, face blank, tone just a little too flat. “The mastermind was the one to devise the plan, but he was the one who ended up _directly_ causing his death.”

Hanamiya suddenly realised.

“ _The file said his right hand was bruised… That wasn’t from the sword, was it?_ ”

Slowly lifting a hand, he touched it to his own neck.

“ _If the culprit suspended him first, they could have placed the noose around his neck afterwards. Since he couldn’t use one of his hands, he only hold onto the rope with one hand to prevent himself from being choked, but the weight it was tied to was too heavy for that._ ”

“If… him letting go of the rope was what caused his death, then…” Minamoto went silent before she visibly shuddered.

Being killed in such a way… Hanamiya didn’t even want to imagine that.

“That can’t possibly be fair, can it?” Chiba argued, turning to Mononeko this time around, his fingers paling more and more as he tightened his hold on his chair. “That doesn’t make _Nakajima_ the culprit…”

All Mononeko did was snicker yet again.

“…It’s not like we have any other ideas…” Kageyama reluctantly admitted. Chiba grit his teeth before slamming down one of his fists, angrily muttering to himself.

This was just messed up.

“So? Are you guys ready to vote yet?” Mononeko squirmed in his seat, eager to get this over with already.

Izumi turned around to give him an ice cold stare.

“You know this isn’t fair, don’t you?”

Mononeko simply shrugged.

Even so… it was better than having all of them executed.

Everyone ended up voting, for better or for worse - some more reluctantly than others -, and all the fact that they were correct did was make them feel worse about the whole thing. Nakajima wasn’t the nicest guy around, by all means, but still…

They were just letting the mastermind toy with them.

“Well, it seems that you guys ended up being correct after all! Pretty neat, huh?” Mononeko clapped his paws for a while. “It does have one downside, though… Who am I gonna execute this time?”

Hanamiya had almost forgotten about that.

Humming thoughtfully for a while, Mononeko ended up shrugging, leaning back in his throne.

“You know what? Since this is such a special occasion, I’ll go ahead and make the execution very special as well. It’s the least I can do for Nakajima-nyan, right?”

He raised the scepter the same way Kuroneko used to, knocking on the floor once to silence everyone even thinking about interrupting.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Kuroneko and Shironeko, my Regular Feline Level Rivals.”

Lifting one of his arms, he _winked_.

“Better get those spare units out of the way before they start a riot, huh? At last, it’s punishment time!”

His paw slammed down onto the button on the armrest of his throne.

* * *

The stage is empty save for the spotlight illuminating the center - until a ship made of cardboard emerges from behind the decorations made to look like waves of the sea. The ship is filled with about a dozen white cats, some of them sprawled out peacefully, others chatting with each other. Suddenly another ship arises - the cats on this one are all black, and the pirate flag is clearly visible even from a distance.

The ships collide, and the cats scatter, panicked meows and hisses filling the air as the black cats chase after the white ones, jabbing them with swords made of rolled up newspapers. As the commotion unfolds, Mononeko begins pulling a lever, albeit with great difficulty, until the floor starts opening up. The hole is filled with water, and sparks of electricity flash every once in a while as the partially submerged wires inside charge it up.

The black cats start pushing and shoving the white ones until they tumble into the newly created hole one by one, each one electrocuted and shutting down almost immediately. Some of the black ones fall as well, gradually caring less and less whether the cat they’re pushing off is a friend or foe.

Soon enough, there’s only one cat left - a black one, proudly swapping out the previous white flag for a pirate flag on the white ship. Mononeko pulls another lever, and another hole opens up in the floor to reveal a cannon inside.

Soon enough, several projectiles have ripped a hole each in the ship, and as it begins to collapse, the black cat slides towards the edge. As it hangs onto the ship with its claws to try to save itself, Mononeko cackles, aiming the last shot at the black cat and knocking it into a hole to join the rest.

The curtains close, and Mononeko bows before rushing away.

* * *

* * *

**Survivors: 8**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mastermind-nyan pulled a komaeda


	21. The final floor

_Her heart is beating against her ribcage so hard she can’t help but think it might burst any second. She clamps her hand over her mouth, pressing it down harder and harder as she prays with all her might that the closet door isn’t opened._

_If she lets a single sound slip, everything is over._

_She knows she shouldn’t be sitting around like this, but she’s too terrified to move. As she very hesitantly peeks through the tiny holes in the wood, she thinks her eyes meet her sister’s for a second. She hears a gunshot and closes her eyes tightly, her nails digging into her skin._

**_Don’t make a sound._ **

* * *

 

When she woke up drenched in sweat, all Tsutsui could do was attempt to catch her breath for the first minute or so, her hands tightly clutching the blanket. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and the darkness of the room startled her for a moment before she remembered where she was. Once she managed to calm down for the most part, she let out a soft sigh.

Unless she could manage to get some proper sleep, she was going to have really bad circles under her eyes tomorrow… She could hide her face with her mask, but she couldn’t just cover up her eyes.

She got out of bed to try to wash her face before remembering that the water wasn’t running at nighttime, then simply stood around without really knowing what to do now. She would’ve preferred not to go back to sleep so soon after a nightmare like that…

She reached for her nightstand automatically before remembering that her phone was still with Hanamiya, then drew her hand back slowly. She wasn’t doing anyone a service by being like this, was she? Still, she just couldn’t stop thinking about the last trial.

Reluctantly sitting back onto the mattress, she bit her lip, staring at nothing in particular.

It might be better if she tries to sew that plushie for Fujinomiya soon to distract herself.

* * *

 

Sitting at the breakfast table, Hanamiya couldn’t help but let out a yawn. He really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed so early - even if it was upon the request of Kageyama, he wasn’t sure if he could listen just as well if he was this sleep-deprived. Tsutsui didn’t seem all that focused herself, albeit that might have been for a different kind of reason - one that Hanamiya knew not to bring up around her.

He made sure to check the fifth floor right after the trial, knowing full well that he wouldn’t have the willpower to do the same thing in the morning - although the floor had considerably less buildings than all the previous ones, which was a relief. A pretty big section of the space was taken up by a rather large greenhouse, filled with all kinds of plants, the air so hot that Hanamiya was pretty sure he didn’t want to go anywhere near that thing if he could help it.

Aside from that, there was an aquarium with a bunch of really strange looking fish that Hanamiya really didn’t know what to make of, a room without a label that appeared to be locked, as well as a fountain in the corner of the hallway. But more importantly… there didn’t seem to be a staircase leading upwards this time. Would this mean they’ve reached the top? There wasn’t an exit anywhere on the ship, though…

Maybe it was inside of the locked room.

On the bright side of things, he did manage to get a complete confession out of Kageyama while they were looking around, so he could afford to space out at the start of the meeting, but he really did need to start focusing soon unless he wanted to miss something crucial.

 _Or_ … maybe he could ask Kageyama to fill him in later - but no, that’d be too much trouble. He discarded the thought as soon as it popped up.

He looked up as soon as Izumi pulled a card key out of his pocket.

“I got this out of the mask this morning,” Izumi held it up for everyone to see, Hanamiya having to squint at it with his glasses and all. “Any idea what it might open?”

“The locked room has a card reader, doesn’t it?” Minamoto tapped her chin, trying to recall. _How convenient_ \- so they wouldn’t have been able to use it without reaching this floor first. Whoever had put it there must not have been rooting for them very much, huh…

“Let’s check it right now,” Kageyama flicked his hat. “We’re not really doing anything, are we? Might as well.”

Hanamiya couldn’t argue with that, as much as he hated the idea of having to climb all those stairs again.

“Do you think it might be the exit…?” Minamoto seemed to practically vibrate in anticipation, Hanamiya subtly shrugging in his seat. Somehow that seemed way too easy…

With Kageyama pulling him to his feet, Hanamiya followed the rest of the group a tad slowly - Chiba being carried by Sakurauchi for a change -, having to rub his eyes rather frequently. In the end, though, he did manage to reach the 5th floor without too much trouble, immediately finding a wall to lean against to catch his breath. Even if he had to walk around so much every day now, he wasn’t getting used to it in the slightest.

Hanamiya wasn’t sure why he had doubts about the card key actually getting the door open - but lo and behold, it actually worked. It took him a moment to be able to peek inside, with everyone else standing right in front of him and obstructing his field of vision, but once they had all entered, he could finally follow them inside.

It seemed to be… some kind of control room…? At least that was the impression he’d gotten with all the monitors and buttons around. There didn’t appear to be any footage of the ship’s exterior - the feed must have only been from the cameras.

“Do you think the mastermind’s been using this…?” Chiba furrowed his brows, only for Hanamiya to frown.

“If they have… I doubt it’s been actively. We’d have noticed if someone had gone missing like that for an extended period of time.”

It was possible they had other ways of accessing the feed anyway.

Kageyama gently elbowed him in the side.

“What do you say we do with this room, Hanamiya?”

“ _Why are you asking me…?”_ Hanamiya raised a brow, only displaying some mild annoyance in his expression before composing himself and pushing his glasses up. “Sakurauchi-san is the one that knows a decent amount about these things, isn’t she?”

“You mean… electronics?” Minamoto gave an awkward smile, not really understanding.

“ _I mean programs,”_ Hanamiya crossed his arms. “ _Isn’t that right, Sakurauchi-san?”_

“Is it?” she tilted her head, earning a small sigh from Hanamiya. “Mhm, well… I guess I can take a look and see if I can come up with anything. But, uhm…” she fidgeted for a moment, “I do have something to do before that.”

Hanamiya shrugged.

“Now that we’re done with this for now…” Chiba lifted Sakurauchi’s hat a little, puffing his cheeks slightly. “Can you take me back to my chair?”

“Sure,” she nodded, attempting to flash the boy a smile and almost breaking her neck in the process. “To the cafeteria we go!”

As she carried him away, Minamoto rushed after them for whatever reason without even a bye, Tsutsui leaving in a rather quiet manner herself. Soon enough, Izumi and Fujinomiya had left as well, leaving Kageyama and Hanamiya alone.

This time, Hanamiya was the one to give him a nudge.

“ _Found anything to use the key on?_ ”

“No doors, at least,” Kageyama shook his head. “I don’t doubt it’s good for something, but I haven’t seen anything so far.”

He cocked his head to the side slightly.

“Do you think it might be good for something in this room? Since we’re already here and all…”

“ _Maybe_.”

Hanamiya wasn’t quite sure himself, but it wasn’t like it was impossible. Before he could say anything else, though, Kageyama already began looking for a keyhole of some sort. It couldn’t be too hard to find, right? So far they’d really only seen card readers and not the traditional kind of locks, so something like that would certainly stand out.

After stretching his back for a bit, Hanamiya began looking himself.

* * *

 

Once he’d finally gotten back into the chair he’d been using, Chiba let out a small huff. It was still pretty annoying, not being able to walk around by himself at all… He was kind of hoping the effects of the motive would go away after the trial, but alas, the mastermind insisted on pissing him off as much as possible.

Right now… he just wanted a snack, really. If he could find a good pop album, that might cheer him up a bit more as well, but food was easier to find. Having gotten a bit more used to maneuvering his chair around, he casually rolled into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. A cooked meal would be quite nice… but he was sure he’d burn the food if he tried to make something himself.

He _almost_ flinched when he heard the door open behind him so suddenly, having been in the middle of looking through the fridge, and turned his head to see who else had arrived.

“Do you need some help, Chiba-kun?” Izumi smiled at the boy, causing him to scrunch his face up slightly in annoyance before he relaxed again. Someone cooking for him would’ve definitely been nice, but he would’ve much preferred if it was a pretty girl and not just a slightly effeminate guy.

“I’m just looking for food. You?”

“What a coincidence,” said boy’s smile widened. “I’d like to eat something too.”

Coincidence; yeah, right… As if there was anything else to do in the kitchen…

But then again, Chiba himself had been the one dumb enough to ask the question.

As of right now, he wasn’t sure if they were okay or not - that one fight they had still lingered in the back of his mind, although he really wasn’t sure why he was dwelling on it so much. Maybe it was his pride acting up again, or maybe it was the fact that he’d gone again and judged someone quite harshly again.

Not that he _wasn’t_ certain that Izumi wasn’t a _pretentious, self-righteous goody two shoes_ , but hey, acting out on those assumptions would be pretty immature, wouldn’t it? All he’d have to do is keep every derogatory word to himself, and he’d be good to go. Who cares if he’s not best buddies with everyone here? Getting along with Kageyama alone was just fine.

“Ah, by the way…” Izumi continued, swiftly ignoring the awkward lack of a response on Chiba’s side. “I’ve had something on my mind for a while that I’d like to talk to you about.”

Well… just hearing him out wouldn’t hurt.

“What’s up?” Chiba turned himself around as he closed the fridge for now, doing his best to act as casual as ever. Izumi took a short pause before he bowed his head slightly.

“I have to apologise for… saying all that stuff a while back. I think you know what I mean,” he let out a dry laugh, straightening up sheepishly afterwards.

He was actually apologising, huh… That was certainly nice. Chiba allowed himself to relax even more.

“…I guess I was kind of being a jackass…” he half-muttered, still kind of unwilling to admit it fully, but wanting to make an effort nevertheless. He cleared his throat. “Either way, let’s just let that go. It’d be pretty silly to hold onto grudges like that.”

Although he himself was the type to hold plenty of things against people…

“We can do that, sure,” Izumi nodded without much hesitation, and Chiba let out a sigh of relief. Good grief; he’d have hated for that to drag on for much longer. Before he could celebrate the end of that topic, though, Izumi resumed the conversation with somewhat of a teasing remark. “You’re not very good with people, are you? Not that _I_ am, but…”

“Excuse you,” Chiba squinted at him for a second. “I have plenty of friends, just not here.”

Gang members _absolutely_ counted as friends.

“I just can’t stand arrogance…” he continued, puffing his cheeks lightly. “You can thank my parents for that.”

“By arrogance, you mean me?” Izumi pointed at himself with an innocent expression, Chiba raising a brow as though silently asking him if he was being serious - although maybe it should’ve been obvious that he was just messing around.

“Take it as you will,” Chiba let out a sigh. “Insult me back, if you want.”

That was something he could deal with much better than trying to be polite with someone he didn’t like very much, although it was more than likely going to make him mad anyway.

Why was trying to control his attitude such a pain in the ass…?

“I think I’ll refrain,” Izumi covered his mouth as he snickered, causing Chiba to roll his eyes - albeit very much appreciating the gesture. “I don’t have the best parents either, so I’ll let that slide. You’ve already said much worse anyway.”

 _Touché_ \- but it was true enough.

“Parents suck, huh…” Chiba stated instead of addressing the latter part, crossing his arms. “I swear; people should be required to have licenses to have kids or something…”

“That’s a pretty bold statement,” Izumi took a seat nearby, seemingly content with conversing for now instead of fetching food for himself. As he comfortably leaned back, he leisurely crossed his legs. “The human race might die out like that, you know,” he let out a lighthearted chuckle.

Chiba opened his mouth before closing it, having to take a moment to process that his venting had actually been taken seriously.

“…Don’t refute me with logic…” he mumbled under his breath, resembling a sulking child. _Of course_ things were never that easy in real life - he knew that much already -, nevertheless, though, he couldn’t help but wish for it anyway. He’d never been the type of person to give up on things so easily.

Turning back to the fridge, he opened it once again.

“I’m gonna go ahead and eat now, if you don’t mind…”

“I could cook something for you, if you like,” Izumi offered eagerly, after which Chiba examined him from head-to-toe with quite the critical expression.

“Can you turn into a cute girl?”

When the boy blinked in confusion several times, Chiba cleared his throat.

“Thanks, but I’m good. Food is food and I’m just looking for a quick snack anyway.”

“But you’d accept it if a cute girl was making it for you…?” Izumi tilted his head slightly, causing Chiba to nod vigorously.

“Duh, wouldn’t you? To know that a girl has gone through so much effort just for you…” he sighed blissfully, hoping that he’d be able to experience it sometime. Girls really didn’t care much for boys with _his_ looks, or at least not… romantically…

“I guess so…” Izumi hummed thoughtfully. “Girls give me sweets pretty often; I guess I must’ve gotten a bit too used to it.”

Jealousy immediately flaring up in Chiba, he proceeded to glower at the other boy from the corner of his eye, closing the fridge again to examine one of the cabinets instead. All Izumi did was stare back at him in confusion once more.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“ _No_ , you did not,” Chiba grumbled, finally picking out a package of chips. Whatever; he could afford to eat something like this every once in a while.

_Damn Little Miss Perfect, or… whatever the male version of that is…_

After a couple seconds of silence, Izumi spoke up again.

“Ahh, would you like me to set you up with a girl once we get out of here?”

Chiba’s head had _never_ whipped around faster, and he looked just a little more excited than he should.

“Would you do that!?”

“It’d be no big deal, right?” Izumi smiled.

Chiba would have probably leaped into the air had he been able to walk.

Instead, he practically tripped over himself as he rolled over to the other boy, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him around.

“It’ll be a _really_ cute one, right? A girl that doesn’t mind short guys… and one that can cook, right?”

Ahh, how wonderful would it be to finally get a girlfriend after years of being rejected…! The girls here weren’t exactly unattractive, but he really would have preferred someone a bit more… bustier.

“Y-yeah, sure, I’m sure I’ll manage-“ Izumi promptly grabbed hold of Chiba’s wrists to stop him from shaking him any longer, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. “Have some faith in me.”

Eyes sparkling, Chiba grinned, not even bothered by the fact that he was being held back.

“You’re not a bad guy, huh, Izumi?”

He let out an upbeat laugh.

* * *

 

“Sakurauchi-san…!”

Finally managing to catch up to the girl, Minamoto took her time trying to catch her breath, leaning on her knees for a while. Sakurauchi waited patiently for her to be able to talk with a clueless smile, head slightly tilted.

“What… what were you going to show me after the trial…?”

Sakurauchi’s mouth formed a small ‘o’, and she let out a nervous laugh.

“Ahh, whoops. Sorry, I got distracted, so I forgot I told you about that.”

Minamoto stared blankly for several seconds, then reached up to brush some hair out of her eyes as she cleared her throat.

“Y-yeah, so about that… You told me to go to the bath…?”

“That’s right,” Sakurauchi grabbed her hand by the wrist before she could protest, already dragging her off. “It’s a good thing you reminded me! There would’ve been trouble if I’d gone without you.”

Somehow Minamoto was starting to feel like she was just being messed with, but then again, Sakurauchi was far from the most collected person here. She should stop acting so paranoid…

As she was being pulled towards the bath, she briefly wondered what situation she could even be useful in. Just reading, perhaps… It wasn’t like there was anything else she was outstandingly good at. Yeah, Sakurauchi must have needed her to read a document of some kind again…

Why in the bath, though…?

As soon as she stepped into the room, though, her gaze settled on a laptop in the middle, and Sakurauchi rushed towards it immediately to start it up.

Was that… the laptop from the cinema?

“I’ve been trying to see if I could find more data on this thing, so I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of stuff, and I think I’ve got something,” she proudly proclaimed, puffing her chest out slightly as she scooted towards the side to let Minamoto see as well.

“You said that there was nothing else you could do, though… right?” Minamoto blinked as she walked closer, peering at the screen. Sakurauchi giggled.

“A girl doesn’t give out her secrets, Minamoto-san,” she placed her index finger in front of her lips with a wink, dropping her hand afterwards. “Either way, learning a little bit of hacking can never hurt. You never know when you’ll end up needing it.”

Minamoto slowly nodded as she got on her knees.

“That’s about as far as I can go, though. I’m not really that good with difficult kanji,” Sakurauchi smiled nervously, crossing her legs. “You’re the best person when it comes to this out of the people here, so you shouldn’t have too much difficulty with this, right?”

“Right…” Minamoto mumbled, already getting to reading all the documents Sakurauchi had found.

There were a _lot_ of them; it must’ve taken her ages to dig up all this stuff. Minamoto knew pretty much nothing about computers and whatnot when it came to anything more complicated than just browsing the internet and using apps and all, but even she was aware that stuff like programming and hacking was pretty damn difficult.

All the text wasn’t all that easy to put together - after all, it was a series of slightly disjointed documents of all kind, rather than one big summary, but after a while, the puzzle pieces began to fit together in her head.

“So, did you get anything?” Sakurauchi questioned her restlessly, already curious to see what Minamoto had figured out. The latter bit her lip at first, closing her eyes for a few seconds to settle her thoughts and take everything in, then turned to face the other girl, speaking a little slower than usual.

“Apparently this… _serenity software_ had been given to someone for testing by the company that had been developing it. I can’t really get any names, though…” she let out a sigh. Maybe they were intentionally avoiding using names in case someone else got hold of this… or something. “Either way, they were going to test it on 16 volunteers.”

A number like _that_ …

“Would that be us, then…? Because… you know, there were those videos,” Sakurauchi furrowed her brows ever so slightly as she recalled, saying exactly what Minamoto had been thinking. Minamoto closed her eyes as she breathed a sigh.

“It’s possible. Judging by our current circumstances, though, I don’t really know what to think of it…”

“I wonder if it got taken over by some kind of virus…” Sakurauchi rubbed her chin, reaching up to take her hat off afterwards and fiddling with it in her hands. Minamoto let out a small huff.

“Either that, or we were just being screwed with from the start. Hell if I know.”

She looked back at the laptop.

“There’s more, though…”

Pointing out a specific part, it took her a moment to rephrase it properly.

“The program is capable of creating A.I.’s based on the participants’ personalities, apparently. Although it seems like it requires considerably more time for anything not ridiculously simplified.”

“Ahh, that might be why the other two cats seemed so much more different than this one!” Sakurauchi’s eyes lit up. “I thought it was just me, but this new one seems… more complex, I guess?”

“Does it…?” Minamoto stared back at her cluelessly, barely having noticed anything herself. Sakurauchi’s expression told her it should’ve been obvious, though.

“That must be why we didn’t start out with the more complicated one from the start…” she hummed, nodding to herself multiple times. “Yep, I’m sure of it. I do wonder whose personalities were used, though…”

“It doesn’t say it here,” Minamoto pursed her lips as she read that section over one more time to make sure. “Must’ve been the mastermind or something. Well, either that or someone else entirely that we have no idea about…”

“Guess so…”

Minamoto pointed to another part this time, dropping the A.I. topic for now.

“This here, though… Finding this was definitely a win.”

“Ooh, what does it say?” Sakurauchi poked her head closer yet again so she could try to read it herself before Minamoto pushed her back slightly to clear her personal space.

“It says here that while it isn’t likely to happen, in case of a subject getting injured or losing their avatar, the program should be restarted without it being turned off. There’s a pretty good chance it can reboot the subject.”

Sakurauchi’s eyes widened before she broke out in a rather wide smile.

“I _knew_ there was no need to be worrying so much about these things! I did try to read it by myself earlier, and I did manage to figure out that dying wasn’t supposed to be an option at all. Isn’t that wonderful, Minamoto-san?” she giggled, placing her hat onto said girl’s head this time. Much too paranoid of a person to start celebrating so soon, it took Minamoto almost a full minute to fully acknowledge what this all meant.

Maybe… the others weren’t really dead after all. Or not just yet, anyway. That would mean that Takahashi is…!

She covered her mouth tightly to stop herself from letting out some kind of squeak.

This was good news, this was incredibly good news! They should tell the others immediately-

As soon as she tried to stand up, though, Sakurauchi grabbed onto her arm, expression a little more composed this time.

“Ah, also, if it’s not too much to ask… could you keep this between the two of us for now?”

Minamoto blinked.

“Why…?”

“We don’t really know how the program is supposed to be rebooted yet, or if that’s even the right option for us, as a matter of fact…”

Sakurauchi glanced back at the laptop before she squeezed Minamoto’s hand reassuringly.

“I just don’t want the mastermind to do anything weird while we’re still working things out, okay? We can tell everyone else as soon as we have a definitive solution. I’m going to try to see if I can do anything with the new room later on too…”

Ah, that’s right… How silly of her to act so eager…

Minamoto lowered her head slightly before nodding it.

“…Yeah, that’s fair. I’ll keep it a secret for now, then.”

“Thank you, Minamoto-san,” Sakurauchi flashed her one of her usual bright smiles, and Minamoto felt just a little better.

* * *

 

“Tsutsui-san…?”

Tsutsui lifted her head from what she’d been doing, quickly hiding her partially ready plushie that she’d been working on once she saw who was approaching. Fujinomiya didn’t seem to notice anything, which was good, and as she took a seat next to her, Tsutsui subtly pushed the plushie back further to make sure it wouldn’t be found.

She could work fast, but she still needed a bit more time.

Fujinomiya seemed to be hugging some kind of book to her chest, nervously glancing between Tsutsui and the floor for a few seconds.

“I was, uhm… I was wondering if I could read here…”

 The clothes store wasn’t exactly the best place to read… She must have been trying to cheer her up somehow, or at least keep her company. Tsutsui’s chest felt just a little bit warmer - she shouldn’t have been worrying anyone, but… it was still nice to be concerned about. Even if it was out of politeness, it did manage to improve her mood a little.

“A-ahh, but if it’s a problem, I can also leave…!” Fujinomiya quickly continued, seeming to panic as soon as a second of silence had passed, still _extremely_ clumsy with conversations apparently. “I was just, uhm… I was thinking y-you might be a bit bored by yourself, or… l-lonely, I guess, and I found this really detailed encyclopedia in the library and-“

Tsutsui cut her off as she lifted her hand, hurriedly scribbling with her other one to give her a response before she could freak out further.

“ _You can read it out loud if you want, I don’t mind. It’s pretty silent up here._ ”

“That’s… true, I guess…” Fujinomiya pushed her glasses up, averting her gaze for a moment. “So… you wouldn’t mind?”

Tsutsui shook her head, and Fujinomiya tried her best to settle in comfortably and to calm down, placing the book between them before opening it.

Tsutsui really wasn’t surprised that it was a book about birds - she wasn’t even sure what else she would’ve expected of Fujinomiya after their last talk. While she _did_ like animals quite a bit, she was more of a bunny person… but the pictures were cute nevertheless.

Fujinomiya rambled on and on, adding her own two cents so often that she might as well have been reciting every bit of information on her own, and Tsutsui realised with relief that all the tension that had gathered in her this past day had begun to loosen up bit by bit.

Somehow, though… she couldn’t take part of her mind off Nakajima, even if she was trying her best to occupy herself with something else. Why would the mastermind target him like that in the first place…? They’d never intervened with anyone else before…

Did he figure something out that the mastermind didn’t want him to know, maybe…? That was really the only reason Tsutsui could think of… Barely any time has passed with the motive, after all, so if they just wanted someone to kill another person, they could have waiter longer… right? Or they could have simply added another motive, or manipulated someone into murder instead of doing it themselves…

Ahh, this was much too confusing for someone like her…

She shook her head subtly without Fujinomiya noticing a thing, reaching behind her to grasp the plushie instead.

She preferred being able to see what she was doing, but… with Fujinomiya here, she didn’t want her to end up seeing it before it’s finished by accident.

Picking up the needle again, she began working with her hands behind her back, going considerably slower than usual as she carefully touched the plushie all over repeatedly to make sure her hands were moving right. Doing something that required so much concentration with Fujinomiya distracting her a bit as well, she soon found herself completely focusing on the task, losing track of time. Before she knew it, she was holding a complete plushie behind her back, and her eyes lit up as she severed the last thread. She wasn’t all that confident that she’d be able to do it, but it seemed she managed to pull it off after all.

Now… hopefully her hands weren’t lying to her, and it looked just as cute as it felt.

As soon as Fujinomiya was done with the current page, Tsutsui caught her attention by tapping her shoulder lightly, and when Fujinomiya looked up, Tsutsui held out the plushie for her to see. Pleased to see that she managed to do it justice after all, she felt her heart jump in excitement a tiny bit, and after a few seconds of silent staring with her mouth slightly open, Fujinomiya hesitantly pointed at herself.

“Is… i-is that for me…?”

Tsutsui nodded excitedly, holding the plushie even closer to her, waiting for her to take it.

Fujinomiya reached out with ever so slightly trembling hands, gingerly lifting the plushie herself to examine it from closer. Her cheeks grew a little red, and she quickly covered her face with it to hide her flustered expression.

“Ah- t-thank you, Tsutsui-san…! It’s really adorable, u-uhm…”

She took a small peek above the stuffed animal.

“If… I can return the favor somehow… p-please let me know.”

Tsutsui nodded once again.

* * *

 

Geez… to think that he’d spent the entire day looking and he still didn’t find anything…

Hanamiya frowned before another yawn overcame him, and he leaned back in his chair a little bit to get more comfortable. At this rate, he was going to fall asleep in the middle of eating…

On another note… Mononeko should be giving out the next motive soon, right? His face scrunched up to form an unpleasant expression after just thinking about it, and the annoyance made him feel a tiny bit more awake. If only they could kick that damn cat off the ship and leave it at that…

On the bright side, at least Kageyama wasn’t being quite as obvious about the secret key anymore. It used to be almost _physically painful_ , but it seemed like they’d be able to get away with it for a while without anyone else discovering it.

He stood up from his seat and stretched his back a bit once he was finished eating before heading for the exit, wanting to look around _one last time_ for today. Those damn stairs should be no big deal for him by now…!

As much as he wanted to brag about that, though, he ended up out of breath by the time he reached the 5th floor as usual. After doing his best not to cough up his lungs by accident, he leaned against the wall, silently examining the hallway.

He checked the greenhouse pretty thoroughly, and despite its slightly intimidating size it didn’t take much time at all, possibly due to all the vegetation not leaving much space for anything else. If he missed something there, it must have been hidden behind one of the plants… which would be a pain to try to find.

The… control room or whatever took much longer on the other hand with the billions of buttons and control panels and whatnot around, but they searched that pretty damn carefully as well, and the aquarium had nothing inside whatsoever apart from the gigantic fish tanks.

There were three options that Hanamiya was willing to consider.

Either they missed something on this floor - which would be rather annoying to deal with -, the key was for a lock somewhere on a lower floor that they didn’t examine properly, or… whoever put it there was just messing with them. But with the third option sounding so unpleasant, Hanamiya chose to ignore it for now.

What else _could_ they have missed on this floor in particular? They checked every room, and the hallway was pretty empty, so unless there was some kind of movable tile-

He blinked.

Actually… they _did_ check every room, but they didn’t check every possible place with a keyhole, did they?

Heading in the direction of the fountain, he wiped his glasses with his shirt before putting them back on, crouching down in front of the object to look at it under the biggest rim. At first, it appeared to be just plain marble, but as he moved to the side to examine it from every angle, he spotted what seemed like a tiny door. And… there was a keyhole.

Hanamiya might’ve done a victory dance if he’d been the kind of person to enjoy that sort of thing.

As he straightened back up, he adjusted his glasses from their current crooked state. He should inform Kageyama first and foremost; he _was_ the one carrying the key around and all. He couldn’t be sure if it would fit, yet, but he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try.

Letting out a soft sigh, he headed back towards the first floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got dragged back into neko atsume hell :( i wish u guys knew what its like to write when ur also checking ur phone every 5 minutes to see if any new cats have arrived  
> edit: whoops heres the map for the floor http://crow-with-a-shortcake.tumblr.com/post/164030673721


	22. Broken deal

When the next day came and Mononeko still hasn’t given them a motive of some kind, instead of feeling relieved, all Hanamiya felt was unease. Mononeko was clearly still present, and they’d received every motive on the day after the trial every single day so far… Had the motive already been implemented without them realising? Or… was this time different somehow?

He supposed there wasn’t much use in dwelling on the topic too much - either way, there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Something that he _could_ do something about, however, was Kageyama disappearing. Hanamiya scoffed; he’d looked all over for him on the first floor including his room, but he didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby this morning or last night. How troublesome… It _was_ possible that he was searching himself, but that was only going to make finding him an even bigger pain…

Well, standing around sulking about it wasn’t going to do him any good either. Stretching his back for a short moment, Hanamiya got to climbing the stairs leading to the second floor, hoping to find Kageyama soon so he could get him to use the key.

* * *

 

“Why do you need me for this again…?”

As Minamoto shushed him, Chiba let out a small sigh, drumming with his fingers on the chair he’d been placed onto. When Sakurauchi carried him to the fifth floor into the monitor room, he was expecting an explanation before anything else, but with the neither of the other two paying much attention to him at the moment, it seemed like he wasn’t going to get one anytime soon.

Not unless he persisted, that is…

“Minamoto,” he gave the girl’s side a small nudge, “if you just took me here so I could sit around and stare off into space-“

“Geez, that’s not it at all…” Minamoto huffed, swatting his hand away. “Sakurauchi-san is working hard, so stop being so impatient, will you? You’ll see what we’re doing soon enough.”

“All I see is a bunch of weird text and two people that refuse to communicate with me normally,” Chiba rolled his eyes but stopped poking her reluctantly, deciding to cross his arms instead so he could look even grumpier. “As if I have nothing better to do…”

“Like what? Sitting around in the cafeteria?” Minamoto raised a brow. “Figuring this stuff out is way more important than whatever else you’ve been planning to do.”

Chiba was about to aggressively retort when he quickly changed his mind at the last second, closing his mouth and swallowing what he’d been about to say.

 _Don’t get mad_.

Either Minamoto was provoking him out of boredom, or she was just annoyed that he kept interrupting and didn’t bother filtering her speech. Whichever it was, he wasn’t going to win by snapping at her.

Leaning back in his chair to get comfortable, he resigned himself to silence for now, wondering if he should try to copy Hanamiya for once and take a nap, when suddenly…

“I’m done!” Sakurauchi announced, exhaling deeply as she pushed the chair she’d been sitting in back. “It’s your turn now, Chiba-san,” she turned to him with a grin, waiting for whatever he was supposed to be doing. Chiba opened his mouth to ask, but was interrupted by Minamoto before he could get a single sound out.

“Get up, Chiba-kun. Hanamiya-kun isn’t here so you’re the only one we can test this on.”

Chiba rolled his eyes.

“Minamoto, did you lose that brain of yours? As far as I’m aware, I can’t walk.”

“It’s not that, you dummy!” Minamoto shook her head in disbelief, then paused for a few seconds. Crossing her arms, she straightened her back, turning her head away. “Ahh, but I can’t really blame you, I guess. A musclebrain like you just isn’t that good at thinking, huh…”

As Chiba lunged at the girl, she dodged to the side, already well-prepared, and it took Chiba longer than it should’ve to realise what had happened.

He was standing. He was actually standing.

Lowering his head to examine himself properly, he stumbled around, trying to see if anything had changed about his appearance - but no, he looked the same as always. So then… what happened? Was this why the girls needed him to be present…?

Minamoto covered her mouth to stifle a snicker.

“Sorry, I just had to get you to move somehow.”

As Chiba stared at his legs wordlessly, Sakurauchi did a little fist pump.

“Alright! Hanamiya-san is up next.”

“Did you do this…?” Chiba turned to her, still a bit too stunned to speak normally, and Sakurauchi cheerfully nodded. “How…?”

She tapped her chin slowly, probably wondering how to explain it so he could understand. It _was_ true that he didn’t know much about all this technological mumbo jumbo…

“Hmm, how do I explain this…?” she tilted her head slightly. “Basically… in simple terms, the equipment in this room is directly linked to everyone’s avatars, among other things. What I did was… reset your avatar in a way,” she started before promptly shaking her head. “Actually, no, it’d be more accurate to say I erased all the modifications done to it with the last motive.”

She leaned closer, eyes sparkling, clearly taking enjoyment in talking about a topic so close to her heart.

“Let’s say you start playing a game with a customizable main character, but they’re equipped with an ability that you deem unnecessary. All you have to do is go into the customization menu and remove it, and the character will be back to normal. Although this is a little more complicated than that…”

“In… any case,” Chiba shook his head to snap himself out of whatever trance he’d been trapped in, “does this mean I’m fine now…?”

“Yep, yep! Perfectly fine!” Sakurauchi nodded her head several times, and Chiba felt his lips slowly stretch into a smile so wide it made his cheeks hurt. He took a few more steps to make sure he really was okay now before he lost it completely and began running and jumping around without restraint. Minamoto hid underneath one of the chairs to avoid being kicked by accident as she grumbled under her breath, and Chiba soon rushed over to Sakurauchi again, grabbing her hands and shaking them so rapidly they almost tore off.

“I’ll definitely return the favor somehow!” he exclaimed, probably more cheerful than he’d been throughout the entirety of the game so far. “Thanks, Sakurauchi!”

He ran towards the door next, stopping in the doorway to glance back briefly.

“I’m gonna go tell Hanamiya! You guys won’t mind if I go look for him, right?”

He didn’t even wait for a response, though, sprinting off in the direction of the staircase to go look for Hanamiya.

* * *

 

Immersing herself in work to occupy her mind was a rather successful solution, and by the time Tsutsui realised what she was doing, she’d already made several tiny plushies, each resembling a different animal. She’d asked around to see what kind of animals the others like, although she couldn’t find everyone in time - Kageyama replied with snakes almost immediately, while Sakurauchi took her time thinking before deciding on cats. Chiba liked dogs, and Minamoto seemed to be rather fond of rabbits - to Tsutsui’s delight.

She stood up, dusting her skirt off, wondering what she should do next. She wondered if she should try sewing clothes again - truthfully, the clothes store was big enough for her to have plenty of material to look at; there must be at least a few clothing items here that can inspire her in some way…

As she wandered around, going from outfit to outfit, her gaze strayed towards a messy pile of clothes in a corner in the back, her brows furrowing slowly. Geez, who left such a mess behind? The least they could’ve done is clean up after themselves…

She began folding them up properly one by one, returning them to their respective piles, and was just about to let out a sigh of relief when she reached the bottom, when she noticed something weird. As she lifted up one of the last shirts, she noticed a familiar pullover underneath. One of the sleeves was slightly ripped, and… there appeared to be some dried blood on it.

She held her breath as she picked it up, straightening up slowly to glance between the shirt and the exit before breaking out in a run.

* * *

 

When he finally found Kageyama, Hanamiya was prepared to give him an earful; _he really was_. However, before he could get a single word in, Chiba came sprinting down the stairs, leaping over the last few steps to land on the floor and run up to Hanamiya. The latter barely had any time to take in what was happening before Chiba began shaking him back and forth, his tone rather excited.

“I’ve been looking all over you, Hanamiya! You should talk!”

Glancing between the two of them repeatedly, Kageyama attempted to interrupt, but Chiba let go of Hanamiya to start shaking him instead, beaming as he began rambling on and on about what the hell was going on.

Hanamiya could… well, he could decipher it for the _most_ part. But the most important thing that grabbed his attention was the one bit Chiba kept repeating, requesting for him to talk.

It took him a moment to realise what he was getting at, and he opened his mouth slowly.

“Chiba-kun, you’re… really not good at explaining things, are you?”

The worst just tumbled out on their own, and once they did, he froze. He lifted a hand to touch his throat, and Chiba almost knocked him to the ground in what looked like an attempt at a highfive.

“Good for you!” Chiba grinned, Hanamiya just barely managing to sidestep him before he could slap him on the back and cause him to fall over in the process. No matter how overbearing Chiba was acting, though; he felt his heart rate pick up slightly upon this new turn of events. He’d known that having his voice gone here most likely wouldn’t affect it in the real world, but even so… it was such a relief…!

“Ehh… you’re really lucky, huh, Hanamiya?” Kageyama joined in himself, having recovered from whatever damage Chiba had inflicted on him, raising his hand. It took Hanamiya a few seconds to begrudgingly throw him a bone and give him a weak highfive, but even so, it didn’t dampen his mood in the slightest.

He tested his voice over and over again, cheeks growing a tad red from all the excitement, before tightly clamping his hand over his mouth to stop himself from blurting out anything stupid. _It’s okay, it’s just a voice_ \- but that voice was everything to him.

Once his initial reaction had calmed down enough for him to be sure that he wasn’t going to embarrass himself, he gradually lowered his hand, putting on an expression as casual as he could muster albeit with the cheerful sparkles in his eyes betraying him nevertheless.

“A-ahh, by the way, Kageyama-kun…” he cleared his throat, averting his gaze. “There’s something I need you for; could you come with me for a second? It’s about the you-know-what.”

When Kageyama blinked at him out of confusion upon his phrasing, and Chiba immediately poked his nose into it, Hanamiya knew he’d made a mistake mentioning it like that.

“What are you on about, Hanamiya?” Chiba glanced between the two, tilting his head slightly. Kageyama _still_ wasn’t getting it.

“It’s nothing, Chiba-kun, please don’t worry about it,” Hanamiya waved his hand in a dismissive manner, hoping that Chiba would back off thanks to his good mood. “It’s private.”

After a few seconds of silence, Chiba shrugged.

“Yeah, well, I guessed that much,” balancing on his heels, he took a step back. “I’ll leave you two to that then. I’m gonna go hit the gym for a bit.”

And with that, he ran off already, practically skipping between steps. He really was over the moon, huh? Not that Hanamiya wasn’t - the faint tone of giddiness immediately returned to his voice as soon as Chiba left.

“Let’s go,” he tugged on Kageyama’s sleeve, the latter staring back at him in a perplexed manner.

“Where to?”

“To the fifth floor,” Hanamiya took a step already, pulling on Kageyama’s arm with all his might - which, unfortunately, wasn’t all that much. “I found something you could use the key on. You know, _the key you found_.”

“Ohh, that!” Kageyama snapped his fingers when realization set in. “Let’s go check that out then. It must be something good, right?”

Hanamiya didn’t have a response to that, but Kageyama began walking anyway, and Hanamiya rushed after him so he could keep up with his slightly rushed pace. Glancing down at his hand for a moment, he made a mental note to give Tsutsui her phone back later and thank Sakurauchi for the miracle work she did.

He began to hum under his breath, only stopping once he actually ran out of air to try to catch his breath, Kageyama pausing to wait for him patiently while trying his best not to laugh. Once they actually arrived, Hanamiya leaned against the wall to wipe his forehead and stop himself from just falling over, then quickly shook his head to get himself back to normal.

“So? Where are we going?”

Kageyama’s tone had a hint of amusement to it, but Hanamiya shrugged it off without much of a thought.

Grabbing onto Kageyama’s sleeve, Hanamiya guided him over to the fountain, crouching down and gesturing for him to do the same as well.

“Look, over there…” he pointed out the part with the keyhole yet again, and Kageyama whistled.

“Dunno how you got the idea to look under here, but damn. Good eye…”

Fishing the key out of his pocket, he swiftly tried it on the lock, then perked up when they heard a clicking sound, the tiny door creaking open. Leaving the key in its place, Kageyama took it upon himself to stick his hand inside, Hanamiya drumming with his fingers on his thighs.

“Ehh…? There’s something like… a notebook…?”

As Kageyama pulled his hand back out - getting stuck briefly at the exit - he lifted a tiny notebook into the air, turning it around to get a better look at it. Hanamiya squinted at it for a few seconds before taking it in his hands himself.

The cover itself was quite plain apart from the obnoxiously fancy handwriting, labeling it a journal. Whoever this belonged to must’ve been pretty pretentious.

“Open it,” Kageyama gave Hanamiya’s shoulder a small nudge, quite eager to see what was written inside, and Hanamiya went ahead and opened it on the first page without much hesitation.

_Dear diary,_

_I introduced myself to everyone today!_ (o´∀`o) _I don’t know if they’ll like me yet but I’ve been trying my best to be nice to them all! It’s a little hard to figure out what a likeable person would be to everyone, but I think I’ll manage. I haven’t found a good place to hide this book yet, but I might get Shironeko to make one for me._

Most of the entries were rather short like this one, and the more Hanamiya read, he stranger he felt about the whole thing.

_Dear diary,_

_I’ve been doing okay so far! I don’t think anybody dislikes me, at least… This one little girl_ has _latched onto me though._ (눈_눈) _She’s pretty annoying, but she does seem pretty attached to me at least. I might have to make her drop out somehow, though… She’s too much of a leader. I really wish a cute girl was following me instead at least…_

_Dear diary,_

_We’d gotten past the first trial, so the game is moving at a very nice pace! I’ve nobody to talk to, though…_ (｡•́︿•̀｡) _Everyone’s already paired up and all, and some of them seem like they’d prefer to be alone. I tried to talk to Kageyama-kun earlier, but then I realised that might not be such a good idea after all. I’m probably supposed to be upset at him or something…_

_Dear diary,_

_I want to be part of a group already!_ ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ _Even Nakajima-kun has someone he looks like he’s close to, so why don’t I? I know it’s not my talent, but I can’t tell what I’m doing wrong… I tried talking to Hanamiya-kun a while ago but I don’t think he likes me._ ( ; ω ; ) _This is the worst…_

_Dear diary,_

_I’ve been slipping up more and more recently…_ o(TヘTo) _I don’t think anyone is suspicious of me because of it, or not yet anyway, but it’s totally destroying the image I have… Chiba-kun has been getting on my nerves more than usual too!_ ヽ( `д´*)ノ _Questioning my morals like that… I knew we shouldn’t have accepted his application! At this rate I might snap at him in front of everyone._

_Dear diary,_

_I have to apologise to Chiba-kun for that argument, but I don’t want to._ (＃`Д´) _As if I did anything wrong, hmph… Well, I think I can pull off a sincere apology anyway, my talent isn’t for show after all! If it’ll make him like me more, I’m willing to compromise. But if it doesn’t work I’m not trying again!_

_Dear diary,_

_I got scolded for leaving such an obvious clue out in the open like that… But it wasn’t like I knew that Nakajima-kun was going to search there, geez…_ ヾ(`ヘ´)ﾉﾞ _Why am I always the one getting blamed for everything? It’s not my fault my luck has been so bad… Besides, I’m not the dummy that went ahead and cut myself with my own weapon._

_Dear diary,_

_Chiba-kun and I made up, and I think I managed to get on his good side! I’ve been told that I should stop writing in here before someone finds it, but nobody can get it open without a key anyway._ ( ´ ω ` ) _You’d need Mononeko to make a duplicate, and I doubt he’d do it for any of the regular participants. Although I_ am _still concerned about that one weird hint… I did say I don’t care what the text says as long as I can decipher it, but I kind of feel like it’s hinting at me…_ (｡•́︿•̀｡) _I hope it’s just my imagination. I guess I can still restart the program if I get found out, but I don’t wanna lose my memories…_

If the text itself wasn’t making it obvious enough who this belonged to, the cutesy doodles the pages were littered with sure as hell did. Each of them were of the same person, but despite that, neither of the two spoke a single word until they were finished reading the whole thing. Silence fell upon them after that, and Kageyama gave Hanamiya a questioning look, looking slightly concerned.

“Do you think this means he’s…?”

Hanamiya’s frown only deepened.

“Maybe… It sure seems like it,” he let out a soft sigh. “Even if he isn’t the mastermind… this is just too suspicious to ignore. It… does seem like he knows his talent though.”

“But why would he lie about it…?”

“Because it’d immediately make him a prime suspect, duh…”

Kageyama didn’t seem like he’d figured that part out just yet, but Hanamiya already had a faint idea of what this talent happened to be… just based on what he’d read so far.

“Should we show this to everyone else? I mean… it could have been planted here by the actual mastermind…” Kageyama averted his gaze. “I did find the key, after all. The mastermind wouldn’t have let me get away with that… or at least I don’t think so.”

“Either way, like I said…” Hanamiya cleared his throat, “we can’t ignore this. We can either ask him in front of everyone else, or in private, but we shouldn’t just sweep it under the rug.”

And… anyway, if his hypothesis was correct, the mastermind’s identity was going to be a lot more complicated than they’d been lead to believe.

He stood up, holding onto the notebook, soon followed by Kageyama. They should settle this as soon as possible… right?

Heading towards the stairs, Hanamiya called out for Kageyama to follow him, wondering how they were going to do this. It might be best to go down to the first floor and look around there, but… where would they go from there? Confronting him in front of everyone else would be the least risky option, but it would also make everyone else extremely suspicious of him, which… they’d have a hard time reversing if they’d end up being wrong.

Well, even if he probably should’ve been more considerate, Hanamiya knew he’d always end up taking the least risky option in the end.

Even when they were only nearing the cafeteria, though, they could already hear quite a commotion coming from inside. Hanamiya stopped in his tracks a few steps away from the door, wanting to be just a bit cautious, but Kageyama walked ahead anyway, wanting to see what all the noise was about. Hanamiya stuck his head inside once Kageyama entered, raising a brow at what was going on.

Conveniently enough, everyone else seemed to be present. On the other hand, though, they seemed to be arguing about something. Chiba dropped down onto a chair to bury his face in his hands, groaning, and as Hanamiya’s gaze swept past the others, he ended up settling on Tsutsui.

She was holding onto a familiar yellow turtleneck, and while that was pretty much all Hanamiya could see from his current distance, he could put the rest together from all the arguing going around.

“As I was saying… something like that doesn’t guarantee anything,” Fujinomiya averted her gaze, her tone somewhere halfway between timid and forceful.

“Yeah, of course _you_ would say that,” Minamoto rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh. “So what, you’re just gonna leave it up to luck? That went _really_ well the last time someone did that, didn’t it?”

“As far as I’m aware…” Izumi interrupted carefully, “I’m still wearing all of my clothes.”

All he got in return was a suspicious scowl from Minamoto.

“Yeah, as if that means anything… You could’ve just gotten an identical pullover from the clothes store. It’s generic looking enough.”

“I can show you that I’m not hurt anywhere-“

“We’ve already figured out the mastermind can do whatever they want with any avatar,” Minamoto narrowed her eyes. “I’d assume that includes injuries. It wouldn’t change the verdict of the trial anyway, so they’d be breaking no rules.”

“Guys, could we all just… calm down at talk it out?” Sakurauchi suggested with a nervous smile, Minamoto brushing some of her hair aside as she muttered under her breath.

“That _is_ what we’ve been doing…”

Once Kageyama got close enough, a good portion of the group turned towards him.

“Ah, Kageyama,” Chiba lifted his head, composing his expression. “Great timing. Lend us a hand, would you?”

“Not that I’m objecting against that, but… uh…” Kageyama reached up to adjust his hat with just a tiny bit of nervousness, posture a tad stiff. He probably wasn’t sure what he should say in this kind of situation. He looked back at Hanamiya for guidance, causing him to be noticed at that moment as well.

“Eh, Hanamiya-kun is more reliable,” Minamoto stated, hopping onto one of the tables to comfortably cross her legs. “Come over here so we don’t have to shout.”

Being shot down so blatantly only seemed to relieve Kageyama, surprisingly - but then again, he was probably very aware that he wasn’t the most useful persona around in arguments like these. Not that he was _that_ stupid, he was just indecisive enough to be the least ideal person for taking sides.

Either way… if Hanamiya was going to show off the journal, now was the perfect time.

He approached the group as Minamoto had requested, but before anyone could say a single word, he handed the notebook over to Minamoto herself - it seemed like she had become the default person for reading things out, even when anyone could’ve done the job.

She gave him a rather weirded out look, but Kageyama was the one who added onto Hanamiya’s actions.

“We found this hidden under… or inside the fountain, I guess,” he explained, Hanamiya himself not bothering to clarify. They could do that part later - first, they had to get some explanations for whatever it was they’d found.

As Minamoto began reading, her brows knotted themselves together into a deep frown, her voice stumbling at certain points, hesitating to read out the text. Not that Hanamiya really blamed her for that, really - he’d have probably done the same.

The further Minamoto got, the more eyes turned towards Izumi, and the more anxious the guy seemed to be acting. Still… it was normal to be nervous when suspected in such a manner, right?

Regardless, Hanamiya’s feelings of unease only grew.

Before Minamoto could even finish reading, however, Izumi just had to interrupt.

“Why… is everyone looking at me like that…?”

Looking rather pale, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face, and he kept switching between wiping his hands on his clothes and pulling on his sleeves.

“You guys…” he swallowed nervously, shaking his head quickly to try to compose himself. “You know that means nothing, right? I’m… j-just being set up is all…”

Hanamiya had never been too much of a doubtful type - sure, he could be cynical when he wanted to be, but he liked to think he’d been exercising a healthy balance of trust and distrust throughout his life. This time, though, somehow… he was finding it hard not to doubt the guy.

Not even Fujinomiya was trying to defend him at this point.

Chiba was up next to speak, though.

“Izumi,” his eyes bore into the other boy’s, his neutral expression a sharp contrast with his sharp tone, “what’s your talent?”

“L-like I said, I wouldn’t know that…!”

Even so, Izumi was trying to defend himself to the very end, starting to sound all too desperate.

“You guys are just ganging up on me because you’re already all buddy-buddy with each other, aren’t you?” he reached out to grasp his hair, voice coming out as a whine. “It’s not fair… I’ve been trying _so_ hard, and I’m still always the one that gets in trouble… You guys are terrible!”

“P-please calm down, Izumi-san…” Sakurauchi tried to timidly soothe him, only for Izumi’s face to go blank.

“Calm down…? But you guys haven’t been acting very calm either, have you?” he tilted his head slightly. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this kind of treatment…”

Suddenly dropping his hands, his attitude returned to that of a child throwing a temper tantrum.

“And I’m not the mastermind anyway! You guys are _so mean_ for assuming that so soon!”

“Well, if _you’re_ not the mastermind, then who else would it be?” Minamoto crossed her arms, shooting him an even nastier glare than before. “You’re clearly the most suspicious person here. If you’re going to accuse someone else or prove your innocence, give us evidence.”

“ _Of course_ I can give you evidence!” he stomped his feet in annoyance. “I’ve known who the mastermind was from the start, you know!”

Before he could say anything else, though, a trap door opened in the ceiling, and nobody was surprised when Mononeko landed on the floor, spinning around to examine everyone before he finally decided on addressing Izumi.

“Oho? Izumi-nyan, you’re not about to say what I think you are, are you?”

“It’s… it’s none of your business!” Izumi let out a huff, staring down at the robotic cat with obvious contempt. “You’re just a stupid minion anyway…”

“How rude!” Mononeko shook his head in disbelief, placing his paws on his hips. “Whether you like it or not, as long as you’re a participant of this killing game, I’m the one calling the shots. On that note, I can’t have you breaking our deal either.”

“I’m not the one who broke it first!” the boy whined, but his protests were completely disregarded.

Mononeko raised one of his paws.

“I’ll be adding a new rule to make sure everything goes according to the original plan.”

As he continued, the e-Handbooks everyone had been carrying made a beeping noise simultaneously to signal the addition of a new rule.

“I forbid Izumi-nyan from giving you kids any hints, just in case!”

Hanamiya took a brief glance at his handbook.

_Izumi Mamoru cannot divulge any information related to the killing game._

Geez… no matter what, this was definitely going to be troublesome. And just when they discovered something this important too…

“That’s… that’s not fair, you can’t do that…!” Izumi objected, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

Mononeko let out an eerie giggle.

“If you don’t like it, you can always just do a reset, right? There’s no need to be so mad!”

Izumi did seem to calm down a little at that, but as he lowered his hands again, he clenched them into fists.

“You weren’t going to cooperate from the start, were you…? To think that I fell for that…”

“It’s okay, Izumi-nyan!” Mononeko threw his paws into the air as if making an announcement. “Anyone would’ve agreed to that in _your_ position. Besides, this game was already rigged from the very beginning, so it’s not like there was anything you could’ve done.”

Izumi averted his gaze, puffing his cheeks.

“…Cheater…”

“Oh, you… I’m just doing my job is all,” Mononeko giggled yet again, taking a few steps back until he was directly underneath the trap door once more. “Whelp, that’s everything I had to say for now, but… Don’t go causing any trouble, understood? I would hate to have to punish my half, even if it’s not the better one.”

Without even waiting for a response, he bent his legs before he shot up into the ceiling like some kind of rocket, going through the door and disappearing from sight.

The few seconds of silence was just enough for everyone to snap out of whatever shock they’d gone through, but Izumi had already turned on his heels, rushing towards the exit.

Chiba jumped to his feet.

“You- Don’t just run away!”

He sprinted after the boy by himself, everyone else just hesitant enough not to make a move by themselves. That was… rather strange. Regardless of Izumi’s unusual behavior, the conversation he and Mononeko had… It barely made any sense to any of them.

Either way, there _was_ one thing Hanamiya was now certain of. Even if Izumi wasn’t the mastermind, they were definitely connected in some way. If he _was_ the mastermind himself… he must’ve gotten sold out by someone else. Finding these clues at once couldn’t have been a coincidence, right…?

Getting double-crossed in such a way… Hanamiya certainly didn’t envy him.

What’s more; as unpleasant as this whole thing has been… part of him couldn’t help but feel relieved that instead of all the uncertainty they’d experienced before, they’d finally gotten confirmation for something. It was a rather small comfort, but he was going to take it if he’d been given it already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so many things to add this time around holy shit  
> im aware that if youre temporarily paralyzed irl it takes you a while to learn to walk again, but since theyre in a virtual world, its safe to say things like muscle weakness wouldnt occur in an avatar  
> and ayyy :0c if you thought mamoru was kinda bland or somewhat of a mary sue until now, that was on purpose and now you know why, altho i did hint at it multiple times before  
> and no i didnt add every entry from his diary bc thatd take ages  
> also um,, i know the investigation chapter is still a tiny bit away for ch5, but just a heads up ;0 i might wait to upload it until im done writing the trial for it as well bc reasons


	23. Break a leg... or two

Being tasked with seeing what else she could find in the monitor room… wasn’t really the worst thing Sakurauchi could’ve ended up with - far from it, actually. She would’ve much preferred to be doing something she was good at instead of getting involved in the incident with Izumi, not knowing what to believe herself. Although Minamoto constantly bringing it up didn’t exactly help her make her mind up, she couldn’t really blame her for that - Minamoto was about as far from the easygoing type as it could get, and she most likely simply couldn’t stop thinking about it.

As far as Sakurauchi was aware, Izumi had locked himself in his room after the incident in the cafeteria, and hadn’t been seen since then. She wasn’t sure if that was for the best… but it wasn’t like there was anything she could do about it.

“What are you checking now…?” Minamoto leaned closer so she could get a better look at the screen - although she probably couldn’t have deciphered all the text either way -, finally switching to another topic to Sakurauchi’s relief.

“I’m trying to see if I can find what the mastermind uses the access the feed,” she explained, cautious enough not to say any names. “Even if they can visit closed off areas, I can’t imagine they’d take the risk of having to come here each time.”

“So… you mean they might be using a phone or tablet or something?” Minamoto raised a brow, and Sakurauchi nodded without lifting her gaze.

“I’m pretty sure they are. As for where they store it, though… we’ll see if I can get that far,” she mumbled the last part, hoping that she could actually get an accurate result for it, if any. It would certainly help, at the very least…

As if on cue, though, her eyes lit up, finally finding something that was worth the effort of searching in the first place.

“Oho…? Give me a second, Minamoto-san…”

Minamoto opened her mouth before promptly closing it, leaning back in her seat instead to wait for her to be done before anything else. It didn’t take much longer for Sakurauchi to progress further, and she leaned closer and closer to the screen unconsciously until the tip of her nose was almost touching it.

“Ehh…? This is a bit strange…” she pursed her lips, making sure to check it multiple times. “It looks like there are two devices.”

“Why is that strange…?” Minamoto frowned, tilting her head slightly. “It might be for convenience, if they happen to be too far away from one. Or, you know, in case one of them breaks down.”

Sakurauchi made a low humming noise.

“I don’t know… It just seems a bit weird to only make two if you’re going to be using multiple.”

But perhaps she was just overthinking it.

Minamoto stood up from the chair she’d been sitting on, dusting off her skirt before her hands.

“I’m gonna go see if I can get Izumi-kun’s room open and find something inside. I’m way too restless to just keep sitting around here…”

“Are you sure?” Sakurauchi blinked, turning her head to finally look at her properly. “Haven’t you already searched it once?”

“I wasn’t super thorough or anything,” Minamoto shrugged, balancing on her heels. “If he has anything in there, he wouldn’t just leave it out for anyone to find that easily. It would be better to search it more carefully.”

That was… fair enough, even if Sakurauchi wanted to argue just a little bit. It might be better for someone like her to stay out of this debate entirely…

“Alright then…” Sakurauchi gave a small nod, slowly returning to her work. “But please be careful, okay?”

“Who do you think I am? Geez…” Minamoto straightened her back proudly, placing her hands on her hips. “Of course I’ll be careful.”

Pausing in the hallway, she gave a small wave before she disappeared from sight, letting the door close behind her. Sakurauchi breathed a subtle sigh.

Even if she wasn’t going to find anything else substantial, it couldn’t hurt to try.

Something soon caught her attention, though.

One of the locations was definitely Izumi’s room, there was no doubt about that, but… the other one…

She shook her head. No, she shouldn’t be doubting people so easily. She never used to do that before, so why start now…?

As she went on, however, she soon noticed something strange - it would have been hard not to pick up on it, really. She bit her lip before examining the control panel in front of her once again, more carefully this time. She entered a few more commands before the screen suddenly went black, a familiar figure filling up the space afterwards.

“If it isn’t Sakurauchi-nyan!” Mononeko cheered, his voice even more robotic than usual with the speakers’ quality. “I was wondering who’d been digging around so much! Unfortunately for you, I can’t let you go any further.”

Sakurauchi puffed her cheeks slightly as she frowned at the screen.

“Why were _you_ wondering about that anyway? This room has cameras too.”

“I’m separate from the main unit,” Mononeko shrugged, moving around like some sort of hyperactive child that just couldn’t stay still. “I also can’t access the feed because of that. I’m just here as a guardian is all!”

A faint idea formed in the girl’s head.

“If you’re only here to stop me from obtaining information, though, does that mean I’m free to mess with anything else that I want?”

“Go ahead; that’s not my responsibility,” Mononeko’s grin widened, as though even approving of the idea. If he really was separate from that other one, maybe he wanted to see if what Sakurauchi would do was going to make things more fun for him or something.

Either way, she wasn’t going to let the chance slip.

* * *

 

It took Hanamiya much longer to realise than it probably should’ve that he’d forgotten to give Tsutsui her phone back with everything that’s been going on. He didn’t even know where she’d gone, if he had to be honest. Checking her room might have been a good start, but he’d already done that a while ago - for a change -, so he had no idea where to go next. She _had_ often been seen around the clothes store, but to go all the way up there with zero guarantee that he would actually find her…? He was gonna pass on that for now.

Maybe… it might be good if he took a short nap and went to search for her later. He could’ve of course also joined the others to try to make some kind of a plan for the situation that had arisen, but aside from feeling mildly overwhelmed, he didn’t really have any good ideas of his own. He was just hoping Sakurauchi would end up finding something that he could actually make something of, or at least his talent specifically would be needed once again. It wasn’t that he minded sitting around per se, but… it _was_ a little weird, with pretty much everyone else having found some way they could make themselves useful.

If he didn’t know any better, he might’ve assumed that he was feeling a little guilty - but nah, that couldn’t have been it. He’d never had a problem with lazing around before. It must’ve just been his nerves getting to him, yes.

He stood up from his seat, glancing around in the cafeteria to see if there was anyone else around, but it seemed like he was still by himself. He paused for a while.

Perhaps if he could find Kageyama first and foremost, he might be able to request some kind of task that wouldn’t require him to walk around…? Yes, that might be good… His physical abilities may have been rather lackluster, but at least he still had faith in his brain. If he could find Kageyama, that is…

He let out a sigh, slowly heading towards the door.

The first floor was deserted, despite how much he’d been hoping to come across someone straight away. Sakurauchi and Minamoto were still busy on the fifth floor, and the last time he saw Tsutsui, Chiba, Kageyama and Fujinomiya, they were hanging out in the hallway in case Izumi decided to leave his room. This time, though, there was nobody around, and Hanamiya furrowed his brows at the sight. How irresponsible to leave just like that…

The door was still closed, which was… good, he supposed - at least it meant they hadn’t missed anything despite nobody being around to keep watch. He wondered if he should stay here by himself, maybe… It would certainly be more useful than just sitting around in some other place.

Turning his back to the door to stare in the direction of the cafeteria, he nervously fiddled with the hem of his shirt, hesitantly deciding to keep watch if he didn’t have anything better to do, but he didn’t even have time to react when he heard a door creak open.

Falling to his knees a few moments later, the world was slowly enveloped in black, and all he could hear were a pair of shoes walking past him as he drifted off to unconsciousness.

* * *

 

 _Of course_ Kageyama had to just magically disappear at the worst times.

It wasn’t like Chiba was mad at him, mind you, but he had to admit it was just a bit too troublesome to investigate a ship this huge in an attempt to find the guy. He’d already looked over multiple floors, so if he wasn’t going to find him on the fifth one, he was gonna give up and march up to someone else instead to help him get that damn door open. If a _pen_ was enough to get one of those screws loose, he was over 100% sure they could find something in the store that would make it even easier.

He had a feeling leaving his spot of keeping watch _may_ have been a bit of a bad idea, but Hanamiya was probably going to spot Izumi if he was gonna try to leave, so there was that. Even if… _Hanamiya_ had absolutely zero chance of holding him down…

Okay; he was going to get back as soon as possible.

Once he turned the next corner, though, he stopped dead in his tracks, eyes going wide, not even sure if what he was seeing was real or if he’d just hallucinated something from all the stress.

In the middle of the hallway, a trail of blood behind him, lay Kageyama on the floor. Once he’d snapped out of his shock, Chiba immediately rushed over, mild panic flooding him immediately - the relief all the stronger when he heard him groan quietly. Kneeling down right next to him, Chiba turned him onto his back before anything else, unable to help a wince at the deep cut along the boy’s hand. At least hopefully it was away from any major arteries…

“Kageyama, you… what happened to you?”

His tone wasn’t lacking in anxiety, still, but he didn’t bother trying to mask it, instead focusing on the situation at hand. Kageyama looked quite dazed - but it couldn’t have been from the blood loss, right? He didn’t seem to have lost an alarming amount, at least…

“Chiba…?” he recognised him with a bit of difficulty, speech slightly slurred. “I’m gonna… need a trip to the infirmary…”

Chiba didn’t hesitate to help him to his feet, stumbling a bit as Kageyama’s entire weight leaned into him - it didn’t seem like he was going to be able to hold himself up at all, let alone walk. Chiba grit his teeth, hoping he’d be able to carry him all the way to the room in question.

“Did you get attacked, or something…?”

It took Kageyama quite a while to respond, obviously having difficulty thinking clearly.

“…Izumi… is he… is he still alive…?”

Chiba had approximately zero idea what Kageyama was going on about, but he didn’t have time to try to decrypt his nonsensical rambling. Only one thing was for clear; he wasn’t going to get any information from him. If he had to figure this out entirely by himself… then all he could do was try his best.

When he finally managed to drag him over to the infirmary, he dropped him down onto one of the beds straight away, barely taking a moment to catch his breath. What should he do- What _could_ he do? Should he clean the wound and bandage his hand up…? What if he had some other injury and that was what was making him act so dazed…? Or what if he was just plain scared of blood or something?

Chiba shook his head in annoyance to try to snap himself back to normal. He should definitely clean the wound first; there wasn’t much else he could do. As he walked towards the medicine cabinet, though, the person he wanted to see the least dropped down from the ceiling.

Or rather… stuffed animal.

“What do you want?” Chiba snapped at Mononeko, impatiently tapping his feet. He didn’t have time for this, not right now - but before he could voice that thought, Mononeko shook his head in dismay.

“Chiba-nyan, haven’t your parents taught you to be polite to your teachers? _Especially_ if they’re here to help you…”

Chiba paused, narrowing his eyes at the cat, unsure if he should even give it attention.

“What do you mean…?”

“Not much, really,” Mononeko leaned against the wall, looking quite comfortable. “It’s just that you won’t be able to help Kageyama-nyan unless you figure out what he’s been poisoned with, and what kind of antidote you need.”

Chiba froze, the sentence echoing in his head over and over again.

If Kageyama was poisoned… then this whole thing would make a lot more sense.

Walking up to Mononeko, he lifted him into the air, staring at him with such intensity that it was clear that he wouldn’t hesitate to break him into tiny pieces if he wouldn’t cooperate, even if it meant breaking a rule.

“Tell me what I need, then.”

He could ask Kageyama what happened once he was fine - for now, he had to make sure that he would actually survive. He’d had it with these damn trials; he’d had enough. He wasn’t going to let Kageyama be another one of the corpses they had to examine if he could help it.

“Ah, about that…” Mononeko chuckled, not at all fazed by Chiba’s death glare. “I will treat Kageyama-nyan personally, of course; I can’t let an amateur like you handle such a thing. But… there _is_ one condition.”

“Well then tell me…!” Chiba demanded, his grip only tightening. To his frustration, Mononeko only seemed amused by his reaction.

“Let’s see… something that’s worth Kageyama-nyan’s life, huh?” he tilted his head slightly, staring straight into Chiba’s eyes. “I’ll need you to give up on your legs once again, Chiba-nyan. But this time it won’t be the easy way!”

It took Chiba a moment to register what Mononeko said.

“…Huh?”

“We’re in the infirmary already, so it should be fine, right?” Mononeko continued. “It’ll only take a few seconds! It _might_ hurt a teeny tiny bit, but it should be nothing compared to what you’re getting in exchange. And you’ll probably pass out pretty fast anyway!”

Chiba felt himself pale just a little upon what that was implying. It wasn’t the future consequences that bothered him the most - if this was a virtual world, he could bear with it as long as his real body remained unhurt -, but rather, the implications about the procedure itself. He’d always been pretty good with pain, but something like _this_ just seemed a little too much even to a gang leader.

“I wouldn’t… bleed to death, would I…?”

His voice felt distant, as if it wasn’t really him speaking, and he had to admit imagining it made him feel a little lightheaded. Still, _it wasn’t like he was really going to be hurt_ \- he had to remind himself of that over and over.

“Of course not,” Mononeko shook his head, tone not reassuring in the slightest. “I won’t just kill someone if they haven’t broken any rules.”

Chiba bit his lip. This was _so incredibly stupid_ , but he knew he was going to regret it if he just let Kageyama die. Even if they found a way to resurrect everyone that had been murdered so far, he just couldn’t risk it. He took a deep breath, steadying his voice before it could even shake.

“…Don’t you _fucking_ dare break that promise.”

As Mononeko leapt from his hold, the ground seemed to slip from underneath Chiba’s feet, and before he knew it, he was sitting on the ground. His hands unconsciously searched the ground for something, _anything_ to hold onto, and a bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck.

_It’s okay, everything is going to be fine._

As soon as he saw Mononeko approach him with a rather large hammer, he squeezed his eyes shut, not even wanting to think about what was about to come. As soon as this was over, he was going to find Izumi and _strangle him_ for making him go through this…

Chiba had never been the type to scream from pain, but today had turned out to be an exception.

* * *

 

Minamoto had to admit: she hadn’t been expecting Izumi’s door to just be wide open. Did she get lucky, perhaps? She came to a halt in the middle of the hallway when she spotted Hanamiya on the floor right next to it, poking him with her shoe to check to see what the hell he was doing in such position. He seemed to be… asleep. Was _he_ the one the others had picked to guard the door? Minamoto shook her head in disbelief. She _thought_ that they could count on him at least, even if he _was_ incredibly lazy, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Izumi probably slipped away unnoticed too, without anyone there to keep watch.

She wondered if she should fetch someone else, unsure whether checking the room by herself would be a good idea - or rather, knowing full-well that it was ill-advised, but not at all certain that she had enough time to go looking for the others. She kneeled down to try to shake Hanamiya awake - he was already here, so it would be the safest option, right? To her annoyance, however, he didn’t seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon - not even when she slapped him across the face several times.

Darn…

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she rushed into the room, hoping that she’d be in and out before anything bad could happen. Was this a terrible idea? Definitely.

Once she was inside, she crossed her arms, brows furrowing as she recounted everything she’d checked the last time she was in here. If she was looking for _another_ hiding place…

Trying to find some kind of secret storage behind pieces of furniture didn’t seem to be leading anywhere, but once she reached the drawers, she paused. She _had_ checked those before, but… recalling what she’d read in one of her novels at home, she crouched down to get a more careful look at the furniture itself. Pulling out one of the drawers, she ran her fingers alongside the sides of it, her eyes lighting up when she found a small button. After she pressed it, another drawer compartment was pushed out, filled with all sorts of miscellaneous objects.

She had to wonder if any of the other rooms had something like this inside.

The first thing Minamoto found was a smaller version of a kitsune mask - she didn’t really think much of it for now and simply placed aside -, then a small container of sleeping pills, and last but not least, some kind of tablet. She _knew_ they’d end up finding something if they searched this room after all!

Turning on the device, her suspicions were immediately confirmed - it was pretty simplistic, but it was most definitely showing the camera feeds. As she randomly switched around a few more times, she stopped on the infirmary, almost dropping the tablet in the process.

There was… _so much blood_ …

With shaky hands, she straightened up, her legs not working _quite_ the way she wanted them to. What should she do…? Should she sprint over there, or should she try to alert everyone else that she could find first?

Before she could make a decision, however, a slow creaking sound came from the door, and as she instinctively turned around, she came face to face with a blank-faced Izumi, tiny drops of blood splattered over his vest.

“Minamoto-san… might I ask what you’re doing in here?”

* * *

 

When Kageyama woke up, he sat up suddenly enough for the entire world to start spinning around like some sort of teacup ride, and it took him more than a minute to realise where he was.

The infirmary…?

At first, his memories were blank - all he could recall was walking up to the fifth floor to go check up on Sakurauchi, then taking a short break in the greenhouse, lying down in the midst of some bushes. Then…

As the sequence of events flashed through his brain in rapid succession, he couldn’t help but clutch his head in his hands, gritting his teeth at the sharp pain that followed. Once the ringing in his ears had died down a little, he lowered his hands, only noticing that he’d been bandaged up just now. From what he could recall, he… fell to the floor in the hallway, then blacked out shortly after, but… before that…

Ah, that’s right. Chiba had found him, didn’t he? His memories at that point were hazy enough that he could barely remember anything about it, but he was certain he’d come across the boy. Did he carry him all the way to the infirmary then…? Was he the one that treated his wound?

Just based on what he _could_ recall… the knife must have been poisoned. Why else would he black out like that afterwards? The cut was pretty deep, yeah, but it wasn’t _life-threatening_ or anything - he’d gotten pretty lucky in that regard. But if it _was_ poison, and Chiba was the one who fixed him up despite that… he must’ve been pretty smart, huh?

Movement was still a little hard, but Kageyama was sure he could manage - he scooted towards the edge of the bed carefully, using the wall to steady himself as he got to his feet. His free hand traced his waist instinctively, and he pursed his lips. He had to get back to the fifth floor to Scaly and Tsutsui again… and he had to find Izumi. From what he could tell, way too much time had passed - even he couldn’t help but worry after witnessing something like _that._

As he headed towards the door, though, he spotted something else.

Chiba was lying in one of the beds himself, a blanket draped over him, expression uncomfortable enough to let Kageyama know that whatever dream he was having, it wasn’t a happy one. He walked closer to him to wake him up - partially to thank him, partially to ask him what he was doing sleeping in such a place -, but no matter how much he’d shake him by the shoulders, Chiba remained asleep.

It took him a bit longer to pick up on the strange machine Chiba seemed to be hooked up to, and his confusion only worsened - was he hurt perhaps?

Kageyama frowned, and was just about to call out his name when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Mononeko standing next to him.

“Do you know what happened to Chiba…?” he addressed the cat directly as he turned around fully, hoping he’d be able to gain some kind of answer this way, at least. Mononeko giggled.

“It’s a long story. Either way, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to participate in the trial.”

“The trial…?” Kageyama repeated, already feeling his stomach sink. So it was too late already, huh… As Mononeko held out a pair of tablets for him to take, his anxiety only grew. Two people dead again…?

All he could do was hope with all his heart that neither of the two would be _Hanamiya_ , and the relief he felt when his prayers were answered made for a rather strange feeling mixed with the discomfort upon reading the victim’s names.

He took a deep breath to regain his composure, but Mononeko was already running away before he could ask him to explain more about what happened to Chiba. Well… he supposed he should go talk to the others for now and see if there’s anything else that he missed.

He found that it wasn’t quite hard to walk once he’d already gotten used to it, and he headed downstairs first, knowing that he’d most likely find everyone else inside. Scaly was… probably going to be okay, right? She could defend herself if anything happened, at the very least. As for Tsutsui… she could more than likely move by now, right?

As soon as he arrived on the first floor, though, instead of having to look for the others one by one, he almost found himself on the ground again, someone having ran into him full-force. He leaned against the wall to regain his balance and blinked a few times as a rather distraught-looking Hanamiya came into view, his glasses on the floor. The boy was wearing a deep frown, and was already lecturing him about watching where he was going before he could even see who it was, and Kageyama leaned down to pick his glasses up himself, placing them on his face without a word.

Once Hanamiya could finally see, his voice died for a few seconds, and several different emotions rapidly crossed his face before he muttered an apology under his breath, clearing his throat afterwards.

“I’m… glad you’re alright, Kageyama-kun,” he averted his gaze, somehow flustered by the mistake he’d made. Kageyama had to admit he didn’t exactly blame him for that - he must’ve been blind as a bat when he wasn’t wearing glasses.

“What, were you worried about me?” he gave Hanamiya’s side a small nudge instead to try to get him to loosen up a bit instead, and despite the circumstances, he couldn’t help a small smile. Hanamiya adjusted his glasses before he let out a small huff, straightening his back.

“Well, of course I was… After two more deaths like that, who wouldn’t be…?”

Such an honest response was a bit unexpected, but Kageyama couldn’t bring himself to appreciate it fully after all. As much as part of him desperately wanted to ignore it, to just forget about the whole thing, he couldn’t afford to - two more of his classmates had been murdered. This… wasn’t the time for friendly chitchat, was it?

“…In any case, I’m glad I found you,” Hanamiya continued, exhaling slowly as he rearranged his expression into his usual neutral one. “Minamoto-san and Tsutsui-san are both acting… weird; I have no idea what’s going on with them. And… nobody’s seen Chiba-kun either.”

“Ah- Chiba is in the infirmary,” Kageyama replied immediately, Hanamiya’s brows shooting up at the response. “I came from there too. I tried to ask Mononeko what happened, but he didn’t really tell me anything…”

“…I see…” Hanamiya crossed his arms, clearly deeply concerned about the whole thing. “Is he okay, at least?”

“He’s… asleep, I think,” Kageyama hesitated for a moment this time, still not really sure about Chiba’s condition despite seeing it with his own two eyes. “Mononeko said he wouldn’t be able to participate in the trial.”

Hanamiya clicked his tongue in annoyance, but didn’t comment on the issue further for now.

“Your hand…” he pointed out the bandages instead. “What happened?”

 _That_ was much harder to give an answer to. Explaining everything from earlier… it was going to be pretty complicated, wasn’t it? And from the expectant way Hanamiya was staring at him, Kageyama found it hard to believe that he had any idea about all the stuff he missed. Glancing between the doors to the bedrooms and the staircase he’d come from, Kageyama gestured in the latter’s direction in the end.

“Could we talk while, uh, walking? I have something I wanna check.”

Hanamiya reluctantly shrugged, but he didn’t seem like he was going to argue.

“What floor?” he asked as he followed him, Kageyama already walking back the way he’d come from.

“The fifth,” Kageyama replied without missing a beat. Hanamiya paused for a short moment.

“That is… where the bodies are. We can investigate that too, then…”

Kageyama wasn’t exactly looking forward to seeing more dead bodies, but he knew he had no choice in the matter. At the very least, confidence _was_ something he had…

They’d gone through this four times before already; surely, they were going to manage.

Once they arrived on the fifth floor, it didn’t take them long to come across the corpses _at all_. Hanamiya must have already seen them before; he only seemed extremely uncomfortable instead of being shocked.

More than that, though… this was definitely the spot Kageyama had collapsed earlier; he was sure of it. Izumi must have come back, then, huh…

Recalling the files’ contents that he received earlier, his hands curled up into loose fists.

_The victim is Sakurauchi Nao._

_The body was found lying on the floor in the 5th floor hallway._

_The victim has been stabbed several times in the abdomen._

_Additionally, there are signs the victim had been poisoned._

_The victim is Izumi Mamoru._

_The body was found lying on the floor in the 5th hallway._

_There are traces of two blows to the victim's head with a blunt object, as well as a stab wound in the chest._

There was also another matter at hand, with the fact that the killing game was still going on.

If Izumi was dead, that meant the mastermind couldn’t have been him after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i deserve death for that title


	24. Confessions

Once Kageyama looked like he was done staring, Hanamiya tapped his shoulder lightly.

“So… are you gonna tell me what happened, or…?”

If it was connected to the murders in any way, he couldn’t just let it slide - and while Kageyama seemed hesitant to talk, he didn’t exactly look like he was determined to keep it a secret.

Kageyama kneeled down onto the floor, reaching out to first carefully touch the knife that was lying on the ground before taking it in his hand, turning it around. He’d pressed his lips together into a thin line before he exhaled, turning to Hanamiya as he got back on his feet.

“I’m… honestly not sure about half of what was going on, but I can tell you what I remember, at least.”

He reached up to adjust his hat slightly, unable to help glancing at the bodies next to him - understandably so. Hanamiya couldn’t let himself get too distracted, though, so he tried his best not to stare, instead waiting for Kageyama to go on.

“I was trying to relax in the greenhouse - you know, gather my thoughts and all…” Kageyama continued, looking a bit sheepish at that part. Well, Hanamiya of all people really had no right to scold him for the presumed slacking off and all. “I heard people talking, so I figured I should go see what that was about and stuff, but…”

He glanced down at the knife in his hand one last time before he took a deep breath.

* * *

 

_It took Kageyama much too long to realise whose voice he heard - but to be fair, Izumi wasn’t exactly being loud. Carefully peeking out from behind a smaller tree, Kageyama raised a brow at pair of people he really hadn’t been expecting to see together chatting. Or… at least one of them was. Hanamiya more than likely hadn’t given Tsutsui her phone back yet._

_Izumi still looked nervous as hell, but it would seem that Tsutsui’s presence had gradually become a source of calm reassurance among the group - contrary to the first impression she had given off -, so the boy wasn’t quite as anxious as he maybe should’ve been. Kageyama didn’t move just yet, wanting to see what they were discussing by themselves, somehow not feeling too good about this. He was just hoping neither of the two was planning on doing anything drastic…_

_“Tsutsui-san… what did you mean in your letter…?”_

_As Kageyama thought, Tsutsui didn’t have her phone._

_Izumi stared at her with an uncharacteristically desperate and hopeful expression, to the point where part of Kageyama couldn’t help but feel bad. After that outburst the previous day, they’d had to have been plain foolish not to doubt him, but… Kageyama had never been good at that kind of stuff._

_Izumi took a small step towards Tsutsui, but the girl didn’t move just yet._

_“You… you still believe me, right? I’m really not the mastermind, I promise.”_

_Tsutsui reached for her skirt, and Kageyama almost slipped and fell, immediately assuming that she was about to do something very inappropriate and just all around_ strange, _when something metal glinted underneath, and she removed a knife from its strap. Did… did she get that from the store too!?_

_Izumi just barely dodged the first slash, stumbling on his feet, clearly in shock, and Kageyama managed to catch Tsutsui’s wrist before she could do any more harm._

_“Tsutsui, what are you-?”_

_His question was cut short when she stomped on his shoe with her heel, causing him to hiss in pain and loosen his hold, the snake around his waist lifting its head at the sound. As Tsutsui yanked her hand out of his hold, however, he tried to grab her hand again, missing by an inch, only for the knife to dig into his skin instead. The pain was so sudden he couldn’t even cry out, instead almost falling to his knees in shock, blood dripping to the ground from the wound._

_The snake leapt at Tsutsui, and the girl’s quick but shrill screech snapped both Kageyama and Izumi out of their stupor as it bit her wrist before disappearing behind some plants. Izumi turned on his heels and ran as fast as possible, and Kageyama sent a quick, concerned glance towards Tsutsui as he ran after the guy, attempting to ignore the sharp pain in his hand as he grit his teeth._

_He didn’t get very far, however, tripping over his own feet in the hallway and ending up on the floor - he would’ve most likely cursed out loud had his head not been feeling so hazy. He tried to get back up again, only to fall back down, his limps not moving the way he wanted them to, getting heavier and heavier. He couldn’t afford to pass out now; he knew that, and yet he couldn’t stop himself from going completely limp, breathing heavy and ragged._

_The last thing he could recall was Chiba leaning over him, trying to help him to his feet, his mouth moving without Kageyama being able to hear what he was saying._

* * *

 

“That’s about it, really. I woke up in the infirmary after that, and you know the rest,” Kageyama rubbed the back of his neck, Hanamiya pursing his lips. He didn’t even doubt for a second that Kageyama was telling the truth - even regardless of trust, it’d have been obvious if he’d tried to lie.

“Is that the knife you were stabbed with?” Hanamiya pointed at it, Kageyama nodding his head right away.

“I’m pretty sure it is…”

“I’m guessing you got knocked out by poison or something…” Hanamiya furrowed his brows, glancing towards one of the security cameras. “If Chiba-kun’s the one who saved you, I doubt he did it by himself. We can question Mononeko during the trial.”

“Right…” Kageyama’s voice trailed off as his gaze slipped elsewhere, and Hanamiya followed his eyes to settle on Izumi, glancing back and forth between the body and Kageyama.

Kageyama cleared his throat.

“Should I… turn him around or something…?”

He turned towards Sakurauchi next.

“And her too…”

“…Guess so,” Hanamiya gave a small nod. Might as well examine the bodies better while they still can.

Kageyama kneeled down, turning Izumi on his back first, letting out the tiniest startled yelp when he saw the pocket knife buried in his chest. He took a deep breath, shaking his head before he scooted over to Sakurauchi next, turning the girl around so she was lying on her back. The lack of a weapon embedded in her would’ve made the sight less traumatizing if her entire abdomen hadn’t been full of cuts and stabs - but then again, Hayama didn’t look much better when she was killed. At least the room was in made it a bit harder to see…

“Why are there two knives…?” Kageyama looked between the two, Hanamiya frowning.

“I… guess we’ll probably figure that out later.”

There couldn’t have been two killers this time around, right? There were only 6 of them alive, and even aside from Kageyama and himself, he was pretty sure it couldn’t have been Chiba. Why would he have tried to save Kageyama otherwise, right…? He’d just get killed if they got the killer wrong anyway…

A light tap on his shoulder grabbed Hanamiya’s attention, and Kageyama pointed out a space directly next to Sakurauchi - the spot she’d been lying in previously, from what Hanamiya could tell. But there seemed to be… some kind of writing…?

Hanamiya moved closer, narrowing his eyes to try to see better, and he could just about make out the slightly smudged letters.

_There might be two masterminds._

Sakurauchi’s hands had blood on them both - way too much of it, if he had to be honest -, and considering the new rule that had been implemented concerning Izumi, she was really the only one who could’ve written that. It… _would_ make sense, considering what she’d been investigating.

Either way, they really had no reason to doubt it, not right now with Izumi dead and all.

“Let’s go find your pet,” Hanamiya nudged Kageyama slightly, getting a kind of half-assed smile in return. “To the greenhouse, then…?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Kageyama nodded along, walking ahead with ever so slightly rushed steps, clearly eager to get his little friend back. He was already looking inside by the time Hanamiya caught up to him, and it didn’t take much longer for the snake to poke its head out from a bush, slithering up to Kageyama and immediately wrapping itself around his leg. Kageyama couldn’t help a small chuckle as the snake crawled up all the way to its usual place around his waist, visibly relieved.

“At least you’re alright, huh?”

Hanamiya didn’t miss the small puddle of blood nearby, but he chose not to comment on it for now. Let Kageyama have his moment of happiness for a little longer.

“Should we… look through the rest of this floor?” Kageyama turned to Hanamiya for guidance next, and the latter shook his head.

“We won’t have enough time. It’s kind of a long story, but… we don’t have enough people looking. We should focus on the obviously suspicious areas first and foremost.”

“We don’t have enough people…?” Kageyama echoed, and Hanamiya opened his mouth before closing it, letting out a tired sigh.

“You’ll see when we get to the first floor. Before that, though…” he crossed his arms, “I wanna go check up on Chiba-kun. You said he’s in the infirmary, right?”

“Yeah, he should be,” Kageyama nodded slowly. “Unless Mononeko moved him or something…”

Once he got the confirmation he needed, he began heading back towards the staircase, Kageyama following closely behind. At least whatever happened to him got cleared up… And his recollection of the incident did shed a bit of light on the strange way Tsutsui had been acting. Although that still didn’t answer what was up with Minamoto… but Hanamiya would have to leave that for a little later.

Chiba was in the same spot Kageyama had left him, apparently - and he seemed to be relatively alright. No matter how many times they tried to call Mononeko, he wouldn’t show up, so Hanamiya’s belief that they’d have to leave this until the trial was only strengthened. Either way, he supposed it could be a lot worse.

Their next destination was the first floor. Hanamiya wanted to check up on Tsutsui and Fujinomiya, and actually get some answers from Minamoto - in that order. He also had to give Tsutsui her phone back, and… it wouldn’t hurt to give Izumi’s room a closer look. He’d already figured out who knocked him out, as annoying as remembering that was, so at least he didn’t have to worry too much about that part.

Upon spotting Tsutsui, he confirmed silently that her attitude from before didn’t change - she was standing in the middle of the hallway in complete silence, staring at nothing in particular. She didn’t even look up when Hanamiya stopped next to her.

“Tsutsui-san… here’s your phone.”

She finally lifted her gaze when he held it out, and for a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something. Before she could refuse again, for whatever reason, Hanamiya simply shoved the object in her hands, adjusting his glasses afterwards.

Seeing Kageyama seemed to have gotten a bigger reaction out of her - her eyes widened, and she clutched her phone somewhat tighter than before, taking a single step in his direction. Kageyama gave her a crooked smile - she clearly didn’t mean to hurt him; she must’ve been worried. The guilt in her expression was clear, and Kageyama lifted a hand to give her head a small pat before it could get any worse to show that he wasn’t going to hold any grudges.

“Tsutsui-san…” Hanamiya started, the girl flinching a little as her name was called. Her bright blue eyes bore straight into Hanamiya’s, but he’d long since gotten over the unsettling feeling this had given him at the start. “You didn’t kill Izumi-kun, or… Sakurauchi-san, did you?”

Even if there was a possibility that she could be lying, Hanamiya had to ask. Tsutsui hesitated for a moment before she turned to her phone.

“Kageyama-chan has told you everything he saw, right?”

When Hanamiya nodded, she continued.

“I think it would be better to have this discussion in front of everyone else, but…” she paused for a moment, rephrasing a particular section, “I didn’t kill anyone. I was worried about Kageyama-chan, though. I’m sorry…”

Hanamiya did have a faint idea about why she could’ve done everything, but… it would be better to leave that for the trial, as Tsutsui said. Her talking… or at least communicating like this was already a relief.

“It’s alright,” Kageyama gave a slightly nervous laugh. “I’m the one who jumped into the middle of everything like that, so… no hard feelings.”

Tsutsui nodded her head timidly, obviously still feeling responsible for the incident - which… Hanamiya supposed wasn’t exactly untrue, but he most definitely wasn’t going to rub it in her face or anything along those lines. If she regretted it so much… that should be enough.

After a quick bye and an update on the situation, Tsutsui rushed off to go see Chiba herself, leaving the pair by themselves yet again.

Next up should be the other two…

All it took was a couple of steps for them to start hearing bits and pieces of Fujinomiya’s pleading, and they spotted her soon enough, standing in front of Minamoto’s door and fidgeting in a restless manner.

“Minamoto-san… please come out. I promise we’ll listen to whatever you have to say, so…”

When she got no response, she let her head hang in a dejected manner.

“Still no luck?” Hanamiya walked up to her, and she shook her head after a small wince upon suddenly being addressed like that.

“I’ve tried everything, but she’s not coming out. I don’t really know what to do…”

Kageyama attempted calling out to Minamoto himself, but the results were the same, still.

Part of Hanamiya couldn’t help but wonder if the reason Minamoto was staying inside was because of the murder.

“…Let’s leave her be for now. She’ll have to be there for the trial,” he ended up saying, attempting to sound reassuring despite his uncertain tone.

Whatever was wrong with Minamoto, they couldn’t waste time of their investigation on trying to figure it out right now. It would just have to wait…

“Fujinomiya-san,” Hanamiya gestured over his shoulder, “could you go check the rest of the first floor for us? I know it might take a while by yourself, but…”

“Y-yes, that’s no problem!” she nodded several times, taking a few steps back already. “I’d… rather not visit the fifth floor myself, s-so-“

“Yeah, I know.”

Hanamiya didn’t get to see her immediate reaction - it took him a while to finally wake up after losing consciousness like that -, but he was sure she must’ve been at least somewhat shaken. She was pretty close to Sakurauchi, after all, wasn’t she?

Still, it seemed like she was doing her best to keep it together. He was glad about that, at the very least.

It seemed like Kageyama had already wandered off towards Izumi’s room, and Hanamiya had to hurry a little himself to be able to keep up with him. He ended up catching up to him just a bit after he entered, then froze for a moment at the mess that greeted him.

Aside from the puddle of blood on the floor and the random items scattered around, one of the drawers seemed to have been left open - its contents presumably the miscellaneous items. Spotting a kitsune mask, Hanamiya couldn’t help but frown, but didn’t remark on it out loud just yet, his attention shifting to the tablet with a rather large blood splatter across the screen.

Fishing it out of the puddle and trying not to look quite as disgusted about it as he felt, he managed to turn it on, examining what he could find. As he thought; it was footage from the security cameras. He eagerly tried to search for a rewind button in hopes of getting the case done in a simple and fast manner, then let out a sigh when the tablet asked for a password. Figures…

Picking up on the writing on the floor, he raised a brow.

 _I’m sorry_.

Was that another dying message, or something else…? He wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like there was any body here…

Either way, he should just try to remember it for now. He wasn’t sure whether he saw any blood on Izumi’s hands or not.

Looking around to see if he could use anything to clean the tablet off, he subtly reached for the bed sheet in the end, carefully wiping the screen. He raised his head when Kageyama called out his name, though, curiously leaning over the bed.

“I think there’s something under here.”

“What, under the bed…?” Hanamiya raised a brow, but Kageyama shook his head.

“No, under the sheets.”

He lifted them up himself, peering underneath them curiously, his expression going through several different changes before settling on a simply uneasy one.

“Hanamiya…” he started, lifting out a familiar jacket from underneath. “Doesn’t this belong to Fujinomiya…?”

Hanamiya blinked a few times as the sight finally registered. Yeah, that… did belong to Fujinomiya alright. Not to mention the blood on it… She did have her jacket the last time they saw her, though.

Perhaps… they should pay a visit to the clothes store after this.

“Ah- also…” he reached down onto the bed, Hanamiya only noticing the sheet of paper Kageyama had placed on there now. “I found this on one of the shelves. Read it.”

Passing the note to Hanamiya, he sat back down onto the bed for now, finished with searching the rest of the room. Hanamiya squinted at the _all too familiar_ girlish handwriting, although he wasn’t all that surprised after all the stuff he learned from Kageyama earlier.

_Izumi-chan,_

_Please come to the greenhouse at 2pm. I want to talk to you one-on-one. I’ll be waiting, so please don’t be late, okay?_

_Tsutsui Rena_

Hanamiya really wasn’t sure why Izumi would agree to something like that, but it was very well possible that he was just that desperate. And Tsutsui of all people wasn’t exactly threatening once you actually got to know her…

Folding the note in half, he placed it in his pocket for now - although he might not end up needing it, considering Tsutsui’s willingness to talk.

“Fujinomiya-san should be checking the first floor, and Tsutsui is most likely still on the second one, so… I guess we can investigate the fifth floor now,” Hanamiya pressed his lips together into a thin line, hoping they’d have enough time for it. He couldn’t really think of any other place that might have more clues, but it would be better to be safe than sorry.

“Should we check up on Minamoto?” Kageyama asked, Hanamiya pausing for a moment before giving a small shrug.

“I guess we can try one more time before we go.”

But alas, Minamoto’s door remained locked.

Hanamiya had to admit he was feeling a _little_ concerned - but she’d have to go to the trial, right? Otherwise he was pretty sure she’d get… killed…

He shook his head, earning a questioning look from Kageyama. She _has_ to come - if they have to find a way to drag her out of there themselves, they’ll definitely do that. Hanamiya wasn’t going to risk anyone dying if they didn’t have to.

Once they reached the fifth floor, they stepped into the clothes store without hesitation, Kageyama whistling at how large it was. Not that they haven’t been here at least once already, but it didn’t stop being impressive nevertheless.

“So, what are we looking for exactly?” Kageyama folded his arms behind his neck, already wandering off absentmindedly. Hanamiya made a low humming sound as he examined what he could see of the room.

“We’re going to see if we can find an identical, or… similar enough jacket to Fujinomiya’s.”

He paused for a moment before he continued.

“Also… about the sweater Tsutsui-san found.”

“The one belonging to Izumi?” Kageyama looked back at him, leisurely leaning against the wall for a bit. “I thought he just made another one with, uh… you know. The thing Sakurauchi mentioned. Or grabbed one from here, maybe.”

“It’s not just that…” Hanamiya shook his head. “He could’ve maybe hidden it in a better place, perhaps, but also… remember his, uhm… journal? If it’s credible, I’m pretty sure he’s not the one who killed Nakajima-kun. But I do think he was working together with someone else on this killing game and all.”

“Two masterminds, huh?” Kageyama recalled the note Sakurauchi had written. “I wonder how Sakurauchi found that out.”

“I’m guessing Minamoto-san might know…” Hanamiya glanced back at the door, as though Minamoto would appear upon her name being mentioned. “In any case, I’m pretty sure about this. I think whoever Izumi-kun was working together with sold him out for whatever reason. It would explain all the hints and stuff we’ve been finding, and also how you happened upon that key.”

“Although I think that was more luck than anything…” Kageyama chuckled sheepishly. Hanamiya didn’t comment on that. “You’re pretty smart, huh, Hanamiya? You found the hiding space too.”

“Anybody could figure this out, though…” Hanamiya immediately deflected the compliment, not wanting to be embarrassed for even a second. “Anyway, I’m guessing Kuroneko and Shironeko were watered down A.I.’s of Izumi-kun and the other mastermind.”

“What about Mononeko, then?” Kageyama inquired, causing Hanamiya to have to think for a moment again.

“Personality-wise it appears to be right between the two, so… probably either a mix of the two, or just an improved version of Kuroneko. Dunno.”

Judging by what Izumi had written in the journal, Shironeko was most likely the one that had been created from him, at the very least.

Not really looking like he was going to ask more questions about the topic, Kageyama switched to something else yet again.

“Say, if we’re just looking for clothes, couldn’t we ask Tsutsui? She spends a lot of time here, yeah?”

That was fair enough, but it wasn’t like they could be sure that she’d searched every inch of the place. Besides, it would be better to make sure with their own two eyes than miss something important.

Also…

“I don’t know if we have time to be looking for her right now…” Hanamiya sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall. A bunch of time had passed already; they were definitely going to run out of it soon. “It might not be out in the open anyway; I feel like she would’ve mentioned that if it was.”

“Good point,” Kageyama hummed, walking ahead once more to get on his knees and peer underneath some shelves. “Let me guess - we’re looking in the dumbest locations.”

Maybe.

Or maybe they just had to go for the places Tsutsui wouldn’t look in too much.

Opening one of the closets in the back, Hanamiya stuck his head inside, looking around left and right. It seemed to be full of different kinds of fabrics - judging from how much space there was, they either didn’t bother stocking too much, or Tsutsui had already made good use of some of them. There was a cupboard full of sewing equipment nearby as well - Hanamiya was pretty sure most clothes stores didn’t have anything like that, but then again, this was a special kind of place.

He only lifted his head once Kageyama caught his attention, and he turned around to see him standing near one of the closets, pointing somewhere above. As Hanamiya’s gaze followed the direction he was pointing in, his brows rose.

Above one of the closets was a slightly smaller cupboard - but it was high enough that he was pretty sure none of them would be able to reach it without something to step on.

“Hanamiya, sit on my shoulders,” Kageyama gestured for him to come closer, Hanamiya instantly frowning.

“Can’t you just use a stool or something…?”

“The benches here are nailed to the floor, I’m pretty sure,” Kageyama shook his head, insisting on his suggestion. “Come on, it’ll only be a minute or so. I promise I won’t drop you.”

Hanamiya sent him a suspicious look - that was _exactly_ what he was worried about -, but he had to admit he didn’t have much of a choice. If he had to pick between potentially missing something and brief discomfort, it was obvious which one he should go for. He reluctantly walked closer after letting out a small huff, Kageyama crouching down already to help him out.

Feeling quite a bit awkward about the whole thing, Hanamiya slowly maneuvered around until he sat down carefully, Kageyama letting out a faint groan as he straightened up.

“Damn, you’re heavy…”

“You’re the one who wanted to do this.”

Hanamiya would’ve crossed his arms had he not been trying his best to keep his balance by holding onto the wall. To be fair, he was pretty sure Kageyama was only a few centimeters taller.

Making sure not to make himself fall by doing anything unnecessary, he carefully reached out towards the cupboard, opening _really_ slowly. Holding onto it with both of his hands afterwards, he leaned closer until his head was nearly inside, Kageyama already bombarding him with questions since he was unable to see anything himself.

“So? How is it? Found anything yet?”

“Have some patience…” Hanamiya muttered, reaching for one of the folded up shirts inside. Lifting it out, he held it up in the air so he could examine it properly, Kageyama craning his neck underneath in hopes of being able to watch what he was doing.

Placing the shirt back after a few seconds, he reached for the next one, then another, checking the cupboard’s contents one by one. At first he really wasn’t sure if he was just being unnecessarily suspicious, but it quickly became apparent that they were looking in the right place, and he gave Kageyama’s hat a small pat before he was even done looking.

“You can let me down; we’re good now.”

As Kageyama placed him down with a sigh of relief - almost sending him crashing into a nearby shelf -, Hanamiya did his best to land safely, holding onto his glasses before they could end up on the ground and break.

“So? What’d you find?”

Hanamiya cleared his throat.

“From what I could see, there weren’t that many, but… there was at least another piece of clothing exactly like the ones we have. I don’t think there were multiple of the same kind, though…”

“Huh…” Kageyama tilted his head slightly before a simple shrug. “I guess at least that question’s been answered.”

Hanamiya nodded, but before he could add anything else to that, the monitor in the room lit up.

“Time’s up, children! Gather in front of the Mononeko statue if you don’t want to be skewered anytime soon.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly in annoyance; _dammit_ , he knew this was going to happen. He was just hoping they hadn’t missed any critical clues or something…

Grabbing onto Kageyama’s sleeve, he turned around to head towards the door.

“Let’s go see if Minamoto-san is out yet.”

At least hopefully they could finally get a word out of her now - a small comfort, but it was better than nothing. Kageyama followed him without putting up much of a fuss, even overtaking him after a point - _damn fit people_ -, and by the time they reached the statue, Hanamiya was relieved that Minamoto was indeed present.

Fidgeting rather intensely, she seemed to be trying to make herself look as small as possible - what’s more, she wasn’t wearing her scarf, nor one of the sweaters she always had on. That just made her even more suspicious, but Hanamiya wasn’t going to jump to conclusions just yet.

When she saw the two of them approaching, she seemed to freeze for a second before instinctively taking a step back, opening her mouth without any sound coming out.

“You okay there, Minamoto?” Kageyama blinked at the reaction, the girl closing her mouth right away as she averted her gaze towards the floor.

“I’m… N-never mind that, that’s not important,” she shook her head quickly, hesitantly glancing up for a brief moment. “There’s something you guys n-need to know…”

Kageyama was about to speak, but Hanamiya raised a hand to gesture for him to be quiet for now, wanting to hear what Minamoto was going to say first, and Kageyama obediently remained silent, realising that interrupting right now might not be the best idea.

Minamoto took a shaky breath.

“I… think I k-killed Izumi-kun.”

* * *

 

_She wasn’t even sure if she screamed or not, the sudden shock causing her head to go empty for several seconds. All she knew is that her heart rate had skyrocketed as a wave of panic washed over her, her fingertips going white from how tightly she was holding onto the tablet._

_When Izumi began approaching her, she finally snapped out of it, and she raised the object above her head like some kind of weapon, unable to think clearly in the moment._

_Oh, she was_ so _screwed._

_“I-it’s okay, it’s okay, I’ll b-be gone in a bit s-so just stay over there, okay?” she stammered out, feeling herself breaking out in cold sweat. She honestly couldn’t have cared less how much shorter the boy was - she was pretty sure it wouldn’t take much for someone to overpower her with her fragile frame._

_“Snooping like that… Geez, you really are singling me out, huh?”_

_Izumi’s voice came out monotone, but Minamoto was sure that couldn’t mean anything good. She took one step backwards, her back hitting the wall._

_“I was hoping I’d be able to find some peace in my room at least, but…” without even blinking a single time, Izumi finally stopped right in front of the girl, reaching out to grasp her scarf first, “I guess I can’t even do that anymore.”_

_His lips slowly stretched into a smile._

_“Minamoto-san… you wouldn’t mind dying for me, right? Throwing away that worthless life of yours… Surely, it shouldn’t be that hard.”_

_Before Minamoto had realised it, her hand, her clothes, and the tablet had been coated with blood, and Izumi had fallen to the floor with a dull thud._

* * *

 

“You… hit him over the head…?” Hanamiya echoed, his tone of pure disbelief. Minamoto nodded her head several times, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

“I wasn’t going to, but- I got so scared, I didn’t know what to do…! I don’t… know how or why the body was moved, but I just…” she grabbed one of her braids to pull on it as though trying to control her panic. “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you guys from the start, but I- I didn’t know how… And… n-now I’ll probably be executed…”

She flinched when Kageyama placed his hands on her shoulders, her eyes already starting to fill with tears.

“Take a deep breath, Minamoto.”

She obliged out of sheer surprise, and Kageyama drew his hands back.

“The body was found all the way up on the fifth floor, right? I don’t think anyone could’ve dragged Izumi up there so easily,” he tried his best to speak in a calm, reassuring manner, and Minamoto’s shaking gradually died down.

“Even regardless of that, I’m pretty sure you’re not the one who killed him,” Hanamiya chimed in himself, Minamoto sending him a startled look. “We’ve no reason to doubt your testimony, and there’s no way you could’ve killed him if that was all you did. It’s all in the file.”

“Are… Are you sure, Hanamiya-kun…?” she didn’t even seem like she dared to believe it at first. Her nerves must’ve been pretty worn down from all the anxiety she just had to go through - Hanamiya couldn’t find it in himself to lecture her right now.

“I’ll explain it more during the trial, but I’m pretty sure about it, yeah,” he nodded instead, straightening his back slightly. “Please try to relax for now, Minamoto-san.”

To his surprise, she flashed him a trembling smile, lowering her head as though embarrassed by the gesture itself.

“Thank you, Hanamiya-kun…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i said i might upload this together w the trial but eh i changed my mind so here we go


	25. The glitch

Once they arrived in the courtroom, they were greeted by two more portraits - naturally. Only sparing them a glance long enough to take note of the simplistic X on Izumi’s, Hanamiya stood in place, arms crossed for now.

They shouldn’t have such a hard time to figure things out this time around with everyone so willing to confess, right?

Even if that way of thinking was a bit silly, he couldn’t help himself.

“Before we start…” Hanamiya pursed his lips slightly, gaze slowly shifting from person to person, “I, uh… propose that we talk everything out in chronological order. It does seem like almost everyone here got involved in some way…”

The fact that there were only 5 people present was kind of… disheartening, perhaps.

“Uhm… speaking of _everyone_ , where’s… Chiba-kun?” Fujinomiya interjected, nobody else looking all that surprised by his lack of a presence aside from Minamoto. It seemed that they were the only ones who hadn’t been told about this - Hanamiya denied feeling even the tiniest pang of guilt, though.

“…It’s a long story, but… let’s just say we’ll get to that soon enough,” he let out a sigh, hoping Fujinomiya wouldn’t persist. He’d have preferred to avoid having to answer confused questions without an end as much as possible, and skipping events would just lead to that.

Fortunately, although still seemingly kind of bothered by it, Fujinomiya gave a slow nod, backing off for now, and Hanamiya silently thanked her for being considerate as always.

“The first thing that happened…” Kageyama tapped his chin. “Was that the thing with Tsutsui and Izumi?”

“The… thing?” Minamoto echoed, looking _extremely_ confused by that kind of phrasing. Hanamiya cleared his throat, reaching into his pocket.

“Tsutsui-san slipped this under Izumi-kun’s door sometime in the morning or around noon,” he held up the sheet of paper they’d found in Izumi’s room for everyone else to see, Tsutsui shrinking just a bit next to him. “This was what led Izumi-kun to leave his room.”

“Why did Tsutsui-san ask to meet Izumi-kun, though…?” Fujinomiya glanced between the girl and Hanamiya, fidgeting slightly. “Did she tell you?”

Before Hanamiya could respond, Tsutsui raised her hand, gaze averted to the side. As all eyes turned to her, she clutched her phone a bit tighter for a few seconds, a hand absentmindedly reaching for her mask before she dropped it again.

“It would be better if I explained everything, wouldn’t it?” the usual voice from her phone sounded as she hesitantly made eye contact.

Well, Hanamiya did know enough about this part of the case already, but explaining it for the others would be necessary in the end.

“I slipped the card under Izumi-chan’s door in the morning,” she started, already pausing as though unsure of what words to use for what she had to say. “I was very emotional, and wasn’t thinking clearly… I apologise for causing so much trouble for all of you.”

She took a small bow, but left no time for a response - for better or for worse.

“When we were suspecting him of being the mastermind, I thought he might have been the one who killed Nakajima-chan… I suppose that might have been the catalyst for everything. I thought that… if he were to die, the killing game would be over…”

_If only…_

“Do we even know who killed Nakajima-kun?” Minamoto spoke up, nervously playing with one of her braids. “If it wasn’t Izumi-kun, who else could it have been?”

“The other mastermind… right?” Kageyama looked to Hanamiya for confirmation, who, in turn, nodded. Recalling their conversation from earlier, Kageyama continued, Hanamiya absentmindedly tuning him out to go over some stuff in his head.

If there was another mastermind, who else could it be…? Izumi had obviously been fishy from the start, but _Hanamiya_ himself hadn’t noticed anyone else acting suspicious. And there were only 6 of them currently alive anyway…

Could the mastermind even be one of the people who’ve died so far? Would it be possible that one of the deaths had been fake, or that death in the virtual world affects the mastermind in a different manner? It was obvious that the second mastermind was among them - Sakurauchi wouldn’t have left a hint like that otherwise - but Hanamiya had no idea who he should be the most suspicious of. Aragaki was the only one whose corpse they haven’t seen, wasn’t she? Or could the mastermind create a fake body for themselves…?

This wasn’t the real world; he couldn’t use reason and logic the same way he always had.

Once Kageyama sounded like he was done talking, Hanamiya took a deep breath.

“For now, let’s refrain from unnecessarily suspecting each other and focus on the case.”

“Agreed,” Kageyama nodded, obviously relieved that Hanamiya was the one to say it first. He wasn’t sure if the trials had a time limit or whatever, but it wouldn’t be good either way to get too off topic. It wasn’t like they had definitive proof about who the mastermind was.

“But if Sakurauchi-san knew that, why didn’t she write down a name…?” Minamoto blinked, tilting her head slightly.

“You were with Sakurauchi-san for a while, right…” Fujinomiya turned to her, and Minamoto gave a small nod.

“Yeah, but… I left before she got to that part. To, uhm… search Izumi-kun’s room,” her voice trailed off, and she quickly cleared her throat. “All she really told me is to look for some kind of device he could be using to access the… camera feed. And I think there were two of them…?”

“Maybe that’s why she thinks there are two masterminds…” Fujinomiya bit her lip. “Do you think she could’ve found the location of the other one…?”

“I… have no idea,” Minamoto shook her head with the slightest hint of shame in her expression. “Sorry, I don’t know how these things work.”

“We can assume so, at least…” Hanamiya half-mumbled, adjusting his glasses. “There’s not much use thinking about that right now though…”

“…Fair enough,” Fujinomiya let out a small sigh, turning back to Tsutsui. “Tsutsui-san, could you continue?”

The girl in question fidgeted for a moment before obeying the request.

“I knew Izumi-chan had a way to observe everything, so I waited for him to leave his room before I did anything. Once the meeting time was close enough, I took a knife from the kitchen, and dipped it in poison I found in the infirmary, then… I went to the greenhouse.”

“In the infirmary…?” Kageyama echoed, raising a brow. “We have poison there?”

“It’s a little hard to find, but yes,” Tsutsui nodded. “I took some band-aids quite recently in case I happened to injure myself with a needle during sewing… that’s when I found them the first time. I didn’t want anyone using them, though, so I’ve kept it to myself until now…”

“At least Izumi-kun leaving makes more sense now…” Minamoto placed her hands on her hips. “I was wondering why the door was open when I arrived… I still can’t believe Hanamiya-kun just fell asleep like that, though.”

“Fell asleep…?” Hanamiya repeated, as though only recalling the event now. “Oh, that wasn’t my fault. I got knocked out.”

Several seconds of silence fell upon the room, only Tsutsui’s hurried typing breaking it as she rushed to his aid.

“Hanamiya-chan isn’t lying… I saw Izumi-kun leave and knock him unconscious.”

“But speaking of that, anyway…” Hanamiya quickly resumed talking, narrowing his eyes ever so slightly. “Why didn’t you guys have anyone on watch? You could’ve just assigned it to me if you didn’t wanna stick around…”

“Eh…? I thought they picked you,” Minamoto blinked, only for Hanamiya to shake his head with a confused frown.

“Ah, we picked Chiba for that, didn’t we? I’m pretty sure Tsutsui was there for a while too…” Kageyama made a low humming sound as he remembered.

“I…” Tsutsui hesitated, but only for a second. “I sent Chiba-chan to fetch Kageyama-chan so Izumi-chan could leave his room without being seen. Once again, I’m sorry…”

“…I’ve slept on harder surfaces,” Hanamiya gave a small shrug, avoiding making a big deal out of it. All he wanted to do right now was just get past this dumb trial already… He wasn’t going to waste time being mad.

“Anyway,” Kageyama took it upon himself to interrupt, to Hanamiya’s relief, “you were in Izumi’s room while we were on the fifth floor, right, Minamoto?”

When the girl gave a hesitant nod, Kageyama tapped his chin.

“On that note… I’ve been in the greenhouse for a while at that point. I heard some people talking so I went to check it out, and then… things just kinda escalated.”

Tsutsui’s head hung low.

“Kageyama-chan stopped me before I could do anything to Izumi-chan, but he got cut in the process…”

“Then Tsutsui got bit…” Kageyama combed his fingers through his hair sheepishly before adjusting his hat. “I ran after Izumi, then passed out in the hallway. All I remember is Chiba finding me before I blacked out.”

“Is Chiba-kun… alright?” Minamoto inquired carefully, and Kageyama glanced at Hanamiya for help.

Typical.

Hanamiya, on the other hand, stared at Mononeko stubbornly, practically attempting to drill a hole into him with his sheer gaze. He couldn’t just not tell them, right? It wasn’t a _secret_ ; Chiba would just tell them once he woke up, so there would be no point hiding it right now…

“Okay, okay,” Mononeko sighed, taking the hint to Hanamiya’s relief. “I _guess_ I can tell you guys now…”

“Then hurry up and get to it,” Hanamiya huffed, crossing his arms impatiently. It was annoying enough having to listen to this robotic cat’s voice; getting this over with fast would be for the best.

“Let’s see, about Kageyama-nyan…” Mononeko tilted his head, feigning having to think. “Chiba-nyan dragged him all the way into the infirmary. It was pretty impressive!”

“Did Chiba bandage me up…?” Kageyama inquired, but all Mononeko did was giggle at first.

“Silly Kageyama-nyan, that was me! Work like that couldn’t have been done by an amateur. Did you _really_ think Chiba-nyan would know which antidote would work?” he leaned forward in his seat, extremely amused. “I don’t think even Natsume-nyan could’ve solved that without the poison right in front of him.”

“What about Chiba, then?” Kageyama blinked, obviously confused. Mononeko grinned.

“You want to know, huh? Well…” he waved his scepter around nonchalantly for a few seconds, humming under his breath. “Chiba-nyan and I struck a deal, so I asked him to give something up in exchange for saving Kageyama-nyan for him.”

At the looks of puzzlement that everyone’s expressions shifted into, Mononeko snickered.

“Let’s just say he won’t be walking anytime soon.”

Realisation flashed in Minamoto’s eyes, and she immediately clamped a hand over her mouth, going visibly pale. Hanamiya was positively startled next to her.

“Minamoto-san, are you-?”

“I think I saw that…” she exhaled slowly, albeit still covering her mouth, her voice coming out muffled. “I’m good, I’m j-just… a little sick is all…”

Hanamiya drew his hand back, unsure of what he was even trying to do - a reassuring pat, maybe. Even so, that would just be too awkward…

“…We can conclude that neither Kageyama-kun nor Chiba-kun can be considered a suspect, either way,” Hanamiya ended up saying, Minamoto sending him a subtle, grateful look as he shifted everyone’s attention away from her. “Tsutsui-san, you were paralyzed in the greenhouse for a while, correct?”

The girl gave a timid nod; the whole situation with Chiba most likely didn’t help the immense guilt she must have been feeling. Hanamiya sent her a sympathetic look, unable to help himself. He wasn’t sure what he would have done himself if the mastermind had killed someone like Kageyama in such a way, instead of Nakajima… so he really wasn’t sure how much he could blame her for this. Not to mention the fact that going after the mastermind was kind of… justifiable.

“By the time I woke up, both of the bodies were in the hallway…”

“Ah- I can attest to that,” Fujinomiya straightened her back slightly, nervously fiddling with her glasses. “I saw Tsutsui-san leave, although… she rushed past me before I could say anything. I left to get Hanamiya-kun after that, then I tried to get Minamoto-san out of her room for a while.”

“Speaking of which…” Kageyama turned to Minamoto on the side, “Minamoto, could you tell the others what you told us?”

The girl swallowed audibly before nodding her head, and began to talk, Hanamiya only interrupting when he’d heard as much of her testimony as before the trial.

“Minamoto-san… what did you do afterwards?”

“Afterwards…?” Minamoto repeated, tilting her head slightly. “I… I ran out of the room, then I took my clothes off since they had… blood on them. Then I stayed in there until the talk I had with you guys.”

“And… did Izumi-kun immediately faint when you hit him?” Hanamiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, Minamoto going quiet for a few seconds.

“I… think so, yeah. He just kind of fell to the floor, so… I dropped the tablet and ran.”

“Something like a _tablet_ wouldn’t be able to kill someone, though, right?” Kageyama furrowed his brows, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. “Hanamiya, you held it - it wasn’t _that_ heavy, right?”

Hanamiya actually had to think about that for a second or two.

“It… wasn’t the lightest thing I’ve held. I admit it wasn’t extremely heavy, but it _might_ be enough for a serious injury, at least…”

He held up his index finger to emphasize his point.

“Either way, I’m betting that the devices on here are supposed to be much more durable than the ones you’d find anywhere else. It would be a problem if they were broken easily, after all, right? It wasn’t like we found anything else that could’ve been used as a blunt weapon, so we can safely assume that Minamoto-san really did hit him with that.”

“But the file says that there were two blows to the head, right…?” Fujinomiya spoke up, looking from person to person for confirmation. Hanamiya let his lips stretch into a faint smile.

“Exactly. There is also a stab wound in the chest. But Minamoto-san only hit him once, didn’t she?” he glanced in her direction, Minamoto watching him with a blank face. “We _could_ just assume that she’s lying, but I don’t think there’s any need to doubt her testimony when she came forward herself. So… Minamoto-san isn’t the one that killed Izumi-kun.”

“There was also the writing on the floor, yeah?” Kageyama leaned forward slightly as he pursed his lips. “Minamoto wasn’t the one who wrote that, from what she said, so…”

“So either Izumi-kun wrote that, or whoever actually killed him,” Hanamiya nodded. “I doubt it matters much though…”

“It doesn’t…?” Kageyama blinked, and Hanamiya shook his head in disbelief, albeit only looking slightly exasperated at the question.

“No, of course not. It doesn’t affect the culprit’s identity, so there’s no point trying to figure it out.”

“…Huh…” Kageyama tilted his head slightly, but let the topic go anyway. If they could just manage to figure out the password to Izumi’s tablet after this, they could check with the footage…

“…Anyway, we’re almost there… I think,” Hanamiya forcefully snapped himself out of whatever deep train of thought he was about to follow, trying his best to focus on the present. “Now, the gap in time between the body discovery announcement and the time Minamoto-san left the room is about an hour or two, give or take a few minutes.”

“They couldn’t have just dragged Izumi all the way up to the fifth floor, though, right?” Kageyama asked, scratching his head. “That’s a long way up there and they would’ve risked being spotted…”

“Nah, I doubt they did that either. I think Izumi-kun walked over there by himself, actually,” Hanamiya crossed his arms, gaze slowly shifting towards Fujinomiya. “Before that, though… I think a second person attacked him.”

It took Fujinomiya a moment to notice his stare, and she flinched, bewildered.

“M-me…? Hanamiya-kun, w-what are you…?”

“It’s clear that the tablet had to be used a second time, unless there’s another weapon that we couldn’t find,” Hanamiya started, not even leaving a second for anyone else to interrupt. “Now; whether he was hit on the first or fifth floor is irrelevant, as the culprit could have simply chosen to return the tablet to his room afterwards. Either way, I believe Izumi-kun ran all the way up to the fifth floor in hopes of finding someone else so he wouldn’t be murdered.”

He took a deep breath, somehow incredibly conflicted about the silence that had fallen upon the room.

“He wouldn’t want to risk killing someone by fighting back, would he? Not to mention the fact that he must have been pretty panicked after everything that had happened… Even his attacker was a frail girl, I don’t think he’d be willing to risk it.”

He glanced towards Tsutsui for a moment.

“Fujinomiya-san… you said you saw Tsutsui-san leave greenhouse, right? You _must_ have been right next to the crime scene… I’m not saying that you couldn’t have had a reason for being there, but it’s awfully suspicious nevertheless…”

Fujinomiya opened her mouth to cut him off, but no sound came out; and thus, Hanamiya continued.

“Kageyama-kun and I found your jacket in Izumi-kun’s room as well… And the knife used to kill Izumi-kun was a different knife than the one used to kill Sakurauchi-san. Fujinomiya-san… you didn’t follow Takahashi-kun’s example, did you?”

He wasn’t too happy about his accusatory tone, but what could he do? She really was the most suspicious person at the moment - no, she had been from the start. The knife was still on the fifth floor, so if Izumi-kun used that to kill Sakurauchi and Fujinomiya witnessed it, it was possible that she lost her composure and gone ahead and killed him. Even if she simply meant to knock him out at first with the tablet, it wasn’t unthinkable that she’d attack him seriously if she saw him kill someone.

He couldn’t go into detail about his theory, however, as she reached up to grasp her hair tightly, pulling on it with both hands.

“…I get it…” she muttered, her voice barely audible to the people standing furthest from her. “It… m-makes sense, doesn’t it?”

She took a deep breath, dropping both of her hands as she lifted her head.

“The jacket is mine. I… got it from the clothes store, b-but you probably know that. Everything that you said is true, b-but…” she took a trembling breath, shaking her head quite vehemently. “I didn’t kill Izumi-kun.”

“Then what happened, Fujinomiya-san?”

She froze at the question, uncomfortably turning her head to the side as if not even wanting to remember. Choking back a sob, she lifted her arms to wrap them around herself instead, as though trying to shield herself from the memory of it.

“…Sakurauchi-san just left the monitor room when Izumi-kun arrived… I followed him to the fifth floor b-because I knew I couldn’t just let him run off, but… before I could even do anything, he… h-held the knife to her throat and t-told me to run back to the first floor. I… thought he’d avoid killing anyone if he could because of the trial, b-but…” she bit her lip, tears starting to gather in the corners of her eyes. “By the time I got back, they were both… dead… I couldn’t find a way to prove my innocence, though, s-so I hid my jacket and kept quiet about everything…”

“Why… did you attack Izumi in the first place…?” Kageyama asked carefully, wincing a bit as Fujinomiya bit down on a sob.

“He had b-blood all over him, and… I don’t know, I just got scared. I’m… I’m sorry, I know there’s no way I can prove whether anything I said is right, but…”

Her voice trailed off, and the room went quiet once again. Hanamiya had leaned onto his podium for support, hands clutching it tightly until his fingers started turning white as he rapidly tried to scan his memories to see if he could think of anything that they’d missed, and the sinking feeling in his stomach really wasn’t helping. There was nothing. They didn’t have many clues from the start, but now they’d ran out, and there was absolutely nothing. Even if he tried to rely on his intuition, the culprit was either Fujinomiya or one of the victims, and there was no way any of them could figure it out. If only they could check the footage…

“Fujinomiya-san-“

“Y-you’re not going to vote for me, right?” Fujinomiya practically squeaked, hugging herself tighter. “I mean… y-you don’t have an alibi either, Hanamiya-kun…”

Hanamiya froze.

He himself knew full well that he was innocent, of course, but there was no way he could prove that to anyone else… Kageyama was out for the majority of the time, Tsutsui only got down to the first floor again once the murder was over, Minamoto had locked herself in her room, and Fujinomiya couldn’t have seen him anyway, as he was out of sight from the staircase.

“Ahh, but- it could have also been Izumi, right?” Kageyama was quick to jump to Hanamiya’s defense, sending him a reassuring glance that, unfortunately, didn’t help Hanamiya’s worries in the slightest. “Let’s not jump to conclusions so soon…”

“But… what are we going to do, then?” Minamoto reached up to grab onto her scarf for reassurance, dropping her hand once remembering that she wasn’t wearing it. “Do… Do you guys have anything else that-“

“Oops, it looks like we’re out of time!”

The sudden exclamation caused a few people to flinch, Hanamiya turning on his heels to stare at the now standing Mononeko clapping his paws together.

“I’m a busy cat; I can’t just sit here all day long watching you guys argue. I’m sure you guys are already bored as well anyway.”

“You- you can’t just do that!” Minamoto yelled, although she didn’t sound like she believed what she was saying herself. “There’s no time limit, you can’t just make up a rule like that…!”

“But you guys are out of clues anyway, right?” Mononeko’s grin widened as he sat back down, crossing his legs. “There’s no point in prolonging the inevitable; come on, it’s voting time! Do your best, everyone!”

“That’s-“

Hanamiya was immediately cut off by Mononeko’s cackling, and he felt himself break out in cold sweat as his eyes drifted back towards the panel that he had to use to choose. This was… ridiculous, wasn’t it? Mononeko hadn’t done anything like this before. But for Mononeko to want to get involved this much… would that mean the mastermind had something to do with this again…? The _true_ mastermind, so to speak?

He grit his teeth; _of course_ it just had to come back to the mastermind again. Was there even _anything_ they could do? He wasn’t _quite_ as worried about the others suspecting him - he’d done a proper job defending everyone else, and there would be no reason for them to doubt him if he went to such lengths… but if Fujinomiya wasn’t the killer and they voted for her…

He could practically feel Mononeko’s eyes on him, and he felt his hand shake a little, having no idea who he should choose. Should he just pick Izumi after all? The mastermind wouldn’t want to just execute them all, so they couldn’t be the culprit… right?

Taking a deep breath, he steadied his hand before pressing the button, praying silently that whatever the majority had picked would end up being correct. Even if he was wrong, even if it was Fujinomiya, getting them all killed would be so, so much worse…

His blood froze as soon as the results came in - instead of the usual confetti, a bright red X had taken up the entire screen. Did… they get it wrong…?

Mononeko hopped up onto the seat, looking strangely pleased with himself.

“Oh, my… it would seem that you guys got it wrong this time around. Funny how that works, huh? Your votes didn’t even align at all!”

As Hanamiya had thought, everyone had voted differently.

_This isn’t good…_

“I guess you’re all getting punished, huh?” Mononeko tilted his head, tapping his chin with his scepter. “Except the killer, of course… But you kids have no idea who that is, hmm?”

Hanamiya could hear Kageyama mutter something under his breath as he reached for his hat, pulling it down just enough to hide his expression from everyone else. Even so, his clenched fists were still visible - and Hanamiya couldn’t remember the last time he saw him actually _angry_.

“Might as well start with Hanamiya-nyan, then… ‘Cause, you know, you tried to talk back earlier even after I warned Minamoto-nyan!”

“I- What are you-“

“Oops, you’re doing it again,” Mononeko wagged one of his paws at him, not even letting him finish. “We’ll start with you, and then we’ll do everyone else one by one. That way everyone will get an equal amount of spotlight!”

He raised the scepter the same way Kuroneko used to, knocking on the floor once to silence everyone even thinking about interrupting.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Hanamiya Takashi, the Super High School Level Voice Actor.”

Lifting one of his arms, his red eye seemed to be glowing.

“At last, it’s punishment time!”

His paw slammed down onto the button on the armrest of his throne.

* * *

 

Where is he?

He can’t remember.

His name- No, he can at least recall that much.

But somehow… something feels off.

He’s seen her before. And him, and her, and him, and her… He knows this face, he knows that face, he can recall it all.

And in a moment, everything’s gone again.

This is wrong.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Each time it just ends the same way.

There’s no use arguing against it… There’s no use struggling anymore.

No matter what they do, they’ll never be more than dolls here. No more than mere chess pieces, no more than little children to the careless caretaker watching over them, who wouldn’t bat an eye if one of them were to fall and drown.

His head hurts, it’s pounding, and he clutches it tightly with both of his hands, but he doesn’t hear himself scream.

There’s a liar, a liar, a liar, and she’s having fun watching them do this over and over… Or was it a boy…? He can’t recall anymore.

Images shift in and out of his mind, flashes come by, and it hurts, it hurts, _it hurts_.

_Do you know your name?_

_My name… It’s Hanamiya Takashi._

_Do you remember why you’re here?_

_Here…?_

_It’s okay, you’re not the only one. Remember? There are fourteen of you._

_Ah…_

_The others were just as disoriented, so take your time._

_No, it’s okay. I remember now. I sent that video, and…_

_Can you tell me why you’re here?_

_I came here to die._

And the memory is gone almost as fast as it arrived, only bits and snippets remaining. He can’t understand, he can’t understand anything, he just wants this to end. He wants to sleep, to curl up under a blanket and just hide forever, just ignore these thoughts, just ignore everything.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and… it’s warm. He’s being shaken. He winces when he feels the sharp pain in his head again, and attempts to swat at the hand that’s trying to diligently wake him. He thinks he can hear someone swearing, but he’s not quite sure, and as he suddenly sits up, his head collides with the boy’s who’s been leaning over him, and they both keel over in pain.

* * *

 

“Are you two okay there?”

It took Hanamiya a moment to realise who was talking to him, and he turned his head to the side to see Tsutsui crouching next to him with a concerned expression. He was… sitting on the ground in the first floor hallway, as far as he could tell. As he tried to recall how he ended up there, he let out a faint groan, having to hold his head in an attempt to soothe the pain.

He couldn’t remember much from the messy… nightmare or whatever he just experienced, but he was sure the headache was either from that or from headbutting Kageyama a few seconds ago.

“I’m… fine,” he managed to say, letting out a quiet hiss when Tsutsui touched his head herself to see if he was injured anywhere. Once she drew her hands back, he let himself fall onto his back once more, closing his eyes.

“It’s just a small bump, so you should be alright…” Tsutsui remarked, the relief clear in her expression and posture.

“I feel like I just got whacked over the head with a sledgehammer…” Hanamiya mumbled, tucking one of his arms underneath his head as a makeshift pillow. The hard floor really wasn’t helping with his growing head pain.

The memories of the trial slowly flooded back, and his confusion worsened even more.

“Yeah, we all do. At least you’re only getting it in one place, so suck it up.”

He lifted his head at the familiar voice, coming face-to-face with a rather grouchy-looking Chiba… sitting in a wheelchair. Both of his legs were bandaged up, and, well, Hanamiya felt like he could guess what he meant by him being lucky with only one source of pain.

“Don’t mind him; he’s on his period,” Minamoto waved her hand in a dismissive manner, lying on the floor nearby, speech slightly slurred. Chiba clicked his tongue.

“It hurts like a bitch… almost as much as your dumbass commentary.”

“Could you two _please_ cut it out?” Kageyama pleaded from the side, finally sitting up himself, only for the pair to simultaneously turn their heads away with a quiet huff.

“Does anyone actually remember what happened…?” Fujinomiya’s voice came out rather high-pitched as she fumbled around on the floor for her missing glasses until Minamoto handed them over to her and she slipped them on with a grateful, but shaky smile.

“All I remember is the end of the trial…” Kageyama put his hat back on, adjusting it carefully until it was in the perfect position. “Mononeko pushed the button, then it all just went black.”

“High amount of stress can cause hallucinations, right…? Or something…” Minamoto blurted out, rolling over onto her side. “I feel drunk…”

“As if you know what that feels like,” Chiba rolled his eyes. “And what’s this about a trial…? Someone fill me in; I’ve been out for forever.”

Gradually tuning out the banter going on next to him so he could regain just a little bit of his sanity, Hanamiya focused on his breathing for a while, pleased to feel his headache gradually fading. It seemed as though whatever happened had confused everyone else just as much as him, but on the bright side… they all seemed to be alive and well. For the most part, at least…

He had no idea who or what had saved them, or what they were going to do now that one of the killing game’s rules seemed to have been broken, but there was one thing Hanamiya Takashi could be sure about: they’d been given a second chance.

* * *

****

**Survivors: 6**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it might take a while to update the next chap (or the one after that idk depends) cuz ill be at a dumb school campout and im p sure i wont have much time to write if any but ay,, ur welcome for the cliffhanger  
> and yea im lowkey making fun of dr1 chapter 4 bc as sad as the case was god the murder was way too unnecessarily convoluted, and,, the trial is meant to be this short yes bc mononeko hates u all


	26. One last chance

It took a while for everyone to regain their standard moods, for the most part, although they all seemed to be at least a little unsettled. Hanamiya found that while attempting to recall whatever fever dream he had in detail still made his head ache slightly, it gradually faded over time - alongside the majority of the confusing flashes of memories themselves, but part of him was more appreciative for that than anything. It wasn’t like he could make any sense of what any of that stuff was, after all.

Getting to his feet one he thought he could actually retain his balance consistently, he leaned against the wall, fixing his crooked glasses automatically by now. The first order of business right now… Would it be looking around to see if anything changed, maybe? By the looks of it they simply got thrown out into the hallway by some kind of… glitch or whatever, and looking for Mononeko was about the last thing on his mind right now, so that would probably be the most rational thing to do… right?

Somehow, though, he found himself hesitating. If nothing about the ship was different in any way - if there was still no exit -, what were they going to do? They couldn’t run or hide from Mononeko or the mastermind in _this_ world; was there even any use in trying?

He was snapped out of his train of thought when Kageyama gave his shoulder a small pat, and he slowly exhaled. That kind of pessimistic thinking… He had to stop with it if he wanted to find a way out of the situation.

“Why don’t we go look for Mononeko? Or summon him or whatever?” Kageyama suggested, immediately causing Hanamiya to respond with only an incredulous look - Kageyama didn’t seem too fazed by it, though. “It’s not like he doesn’t know where we are. And if anyone knows what the hell happened back at the trial, it’s him. A.I.’s are supposed to be pretty smart, right?”

The reasoning behind the last part of the thought process was a little silly, but Hanamiya supposed it was a good point. Rather than sitting around and feeling sorry for themselves… _maybe_ it couldn’t hurt trying to get an answer out of the cat.

Although he still had absolutely zero desire to go through with it himself.

“So what do we do, just shout for him?” Chiba raised a brow, considerably calmer than before now that he wasn’t in quite as much pain, although still a tad grumpy. Whether it was because of Mononeko or his legs, Hanamiya couldn’t quite tell.

“Guess so,” Kageyama shrugged, not really all that sure himself. “Either that, or we can comb through the entire ship for him, but…”

“Yeah, yeah…” Minamoto let out a sigh, “it’d be easier to call him with the security cameras. Gotcha.”

She still seemed a bit hangover, somehow, but forming a megaphone around her mouth with her hands, she raised her voice.

“Mononeko! We’d really like some help here!”

Not the kind of phrasing Hanamiya would have gone with, personally, but apparently it was good enough - as the trap door on the ceiling opened, Mononeko fell right through, landing on his head with a small yelp. He got to his feet in a wobbly manner, stumbling around for a few seconds before he shook his head, angrily placing his paws on his hips.

“Help? You guys want _help!?_ Do you have any idea how much help you’ve gotten already?” he huffed, shaking his head in disbelief before he let it droop in a gloomy manner. “My beautiful executions never came to fruition either… all because that damn _meownie_ just had to meddle in my business…”

Hanamiya was pretty sure that was the first cat-related pun he’d heard from him, and he was hoping it would also be the last.

More importantly, Mononeko’s phrasing caused pretty much everyone to lift their heads if they weren’t already staring at him from the start.

“Wait… _who_ are you talking about?” Minamoto’s brows rose, and Mononeko lifted one of his feet in an attempt to stomp on the ground before changing his mind, crossing his arms instead.

“I’m talking about Sakurauchi-nyan, of course!” he exclaimed, with a tone as though it had should have been obvious for everyone else as well. “She just _had to_ mess with the execution commands… Seriously, did she not know how dangerous that stuff can be? She almost got you guys all overwritten, and _that_ would’ve been an even bigger mess…”

“Overwritten…?” Hanamiya blinked, only having a faint idea about what Mononeko might be referring to. If he could trust his knowledge when it came to tech-speak, then…

“Your avatars, duh,” Mononeko grumbled. “Your memories got all garbled - it was a real pain in the ass to fix them, so you better be grateful! I didn’t think she’d go that far… Kids these days…”

Yeah, he figured it would turn out to be something along those lines. All the stuff he saw must have been from his missing memories, then…

There _was_ still something bugging him about this, but he decided to keep it to himself for now, not wanting to give Mononeko any ideas in case he wasn’t aware about something.

“Still, I wonder what we should do now…” Mononeko let out a sigh, plopping back down onto the ground, looking somewhat lost. “If we can’t do any more executions, what will we do about the class trials…?”

“M-maybe… you could just let us go,” Fujinomiya timidly poked her head out from behind Tsutsui, letting out the tiniest squeak when Mononeko made eye contact with her only to duck behind the other girl again.

“You guys… I can’t just let you out; that’s not how the rules work,” Mononeko held his head, seemingly unable to believe that he had to explain this at all.

He seemed to pause for a moment afterwards, though, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Although… I do suppose there’s an alternative option, since we can’t do regular trials and all.”

Before anyone could ask what that option was, he leapt to his feet once again, clearing his throat.

“Alright, I’ve decided! We’ll hold one last class trial to decide your fate for good! A reset is the only thing that’d get the execution system back to normal, so there’s no point in leaving the game be in its current state.”

A last class trial…

“What do you mean by that…?” Hanamiya took a step towards him, feeling way more eager than he probably should. Of course, if they could just end everything so simply, even he wouldn’t be able to help getting excited about such an opportunity, as much as he wanted to keep his hopes low. Mononeko snickered.

“I meant exactly what I said, dummy. Whether it’s a reset, or letting you guys leave, the only way to achieve it is through voting,” he nodded to himself, looking satisfied with his conclusion. “We’ll have to hold a class trial for that, so I propose we make this the grand finale. I’ll leave some clues for you all so you can try your best to figure out the _huge mystery_ , and then you can vote whether you wanna restart the game, leave, or just leave everything as it is! That sounds pretty simple, right?”

There was no way it was just going to be this easy; Mononeko wouldn’t propose something like this if he didn’t have the upper hand some way.

Still, at this moment… they really had no other option.

“Can we choose to leave even if we don’t figure everything out, then…?” Chiba asked all of a sudden, more stunned than upset for a change. Mononeko nodded vigorously.

“Why, of course, Chiba-nyan! But you should still do your best, you know.”

As if not investigating was even an option…

Hanamiya gave a slow nod.

“I’m… okay with that. As long as you don’t give us any fake evidence, that is…”

Mononeko’s grin widened even more so than usual.

“You know me, Hanamiya-nyan. I’d never lie to any of you, would I?”

As much as that sentence was dripping with malice and amusement, Hanamiya had to admit that while all of the cats had tried to deceive them on several occasions, they’d never outright lied. In which case… at least the clues he was going to leave were to be believed.

“On that note…” suddenly remembering something, Hanamiya quickly continued, “are you going to give us the password for Izumi-kun’s tablet?”

Mononeko feigned thinking about it for a moment before a small shrug.

“I can’t just give it to you, since that’d spoil all the fun, but…” he stood on his tiptoes to lean closer to the boy, looking more comical than anything. “I can give you a hint. The password is the name of the person who’s the most important to him.”

That… wasn’t very helpful, but it was better than nothing. Either way, it was very much likely that the other mastermind’s identity would be given away in the footage, so… Hanamiya knew there’d be no use prying even more; he let out a small sigh before he reluctantly backed down for now.

Everyone else agreed to the trial one-by-one - some more hesitant than others, for good reason, but it didn’t seem like anyone could think of a better plan in the end. Mononeko, quite pleased by the results, proceeded to cackle hysterically as he skipped out of the room, his tail cheerfully waving behind him like some kind of flag.

Speaking of flags; hopefully they didn’t just trigger a death flag.

Kageyama exhaled softly, gaze unfocused for a moment as he delved into a particular question on his mind.

“I wonder if this means we’ll get to solve the last trial…”

“How do we know it wasn’t just the mastermind messing around with us…?” Minamoto groaned faintly, immediately feeling a lot more discouraged than before upon remembering that. “We already looked everywhere for clues, right?”

“I reckon if we can just view the security footage that should tell us enough,” Hanamiya stated, crossing his arms. “Let’s hope that whatever clues Mononeko will give us will tell us enough about Izumi-kun to be able to give cracking the password a shot.”

Kageyama’s eyes suddenly lit up as he smacked Hanamiya right on the back, sending the latter into a small coughing fit.

“That reminds me! Hanamiya, you were gonna be the first one to get executed, right? That means you’ve got your own alibi in a way!” he grinned, clearly cheerful about the fact. Hanamiya sent him a flat, sideways glance before he straightened up once more, fixing his lopsided glasses yet again.

“Guess so…” he half-mumbled, keeping the thought that must have at least popped up for everyone else to himself.

 _If he was the mastermind,_ he could have just made a fake execution for himself - in fact, he could have known that Sakurauchi had prevented executions from taking place in the first place, which would mean he’d have had no reason to worry about being killed himself. That would be enough of a reason to suspect him, right…?

He pursed his lips, hoping with all his might that that wouldn’t get brought up anytime soon, enduring Kageyama’s stare of puzzlement upon his lack of joy at the news.

As he felt a tug on his sleeve, he turned his head to see Fujinomiya practically inches from his face, both of them jerking backwards ever so slightly as soon as they made eye contact. As the girl lifted her hands to fidget, she opened and closed her mouth several times before she finally decided on what she wanted to say.

“Hanamiya-kun, uhm… could you come with me for a moment?”

Hanamiya raised a brow, but he didn’t even have the will to argue, following Fujinomiya a bit further into the hallway instead.

He thought he might’ve heard Chiba let out some kind of a squeak as Kageyama began thanking him enthusiastically, his appreciative gestures perhaps just a little more _physical_ than they should’ve been for someone still healing from injury.

Once they were out of earshot, Fujinomiya stopped without a warning - Hanamiya almost bumping into her in the process - and she turned around so fast she just barely managed to avoid slipping herself.

“U-uhm…!” she bowed her head slightly as she started, already tripping over her words. “I’d… I’d like to apologise for suspecting you during the trial…”

It took Hanamiya a moment to realise _what the hell_ she was even talking about, and he was pretty sure his incredulous expression said everything.

“…Excuse me…?”

“B-because… it was very rude of me…” Fujinomiya averted her gaze meekly. “I shouldn’t have jumped to such conclusions…”

_This girl…_

Was she really so timid that even suspecting someone was this hard for her…? It’s what everyone else had been doing up until now; could she not just see that? In fact, _Hanamiya_ was the first one to accuse her, so she had absolutely _no_ reason to apologise to him, especially since she wasn’t even straightforward about it.

“You…” Hanamiya stopped himself halfway through the sentence, clearing his throat. “There’s no need for apologise for that. It’s normal in these circumstances. And anyway, I was doing the same thing pretty much…”

Fujinomiya looked up slowly, having to wipe her sweaty hands on her skirt.

“A-ahh, I see…” she let out a quiet, nervous giggle. “You’re right, aren’t you? I’m sorry, I’m not sure what I was thinking…”

Only Fujinomiya would apologise for apologising…

Before she could say anything else, Hanamiya held both his hands up in an attempt to cut her off.

“Like I said, it’s fine.”

He wasn’t quite sure what a good way of reassuring people was, so he chose to copy what he’d seen from others instead - lifting a hand, he reached out towards Fujinomiya to clumsily pat her on the head, ruffling her hair just a little. Fujinomiya stared back at him silently for a few seconds before she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, actually breaking out in tears this time. Hanamiya stood completely still, stunned by the sudden action, face scrunching up in annoyance at the barely audible whistle coming from the direction of the others.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Fujinomiya managed to choke out, Hanamiya feeling even more awkward than usual about any sign of affection. Then again, hugs were on a way higher level than highfives.

Once Fujinomiya let go of him and took a few steps back, she quickly wiped her eyes, gaze bashfully averted to the side.

“I apologise, I’m… not sure what got into me all of a sudden.”

All Hanamiya did was give a small nod, still looking very much lost, and Fujinomiya quickly bowed her head with one last apology as she rushed back to the group.

Once he got back himself, he promptly ignored the impish grins Kageyama was sending his way and the jealous stare of Chiba, raising his hand just enough instead to gather everyone’s attention. He had absolutely no idea if they had a time limit or not this time around, but regardless, he didn’t want to risk anything.

“We better start looking around soon,” he stated, already kind of glancing around from the corner of his eye. “Might as well use the chance that we’ve been given.”

Chiba let out a deep sigh.

“Can I trust you guys to check the other floors for me? I’m pretty sure I can’t go up stairs with this thing…”

“Sure thing,” Kageyama flashed a peace sign, flicking his hat afterwards before immediately turning to Hanamiya. “Wanna look together?”

Hanamiya gave a small shrug; they’d probably have less of a chance of missing something if they looked together, yeah - although he had to wonder how much Mononeko would even try to hide anything this time around. There was also something he would’ve preferred to discuss with another person as soon as possible, so…

“Could we talk before that, then?”

Kageyama nodded without too much of a care, and Hanamiya grabbed him by the wrist to drag him off towards the cafeteria so they could get some privacy.

“What do you wanna talk about anyway?” Kageyama inquired, following him obediently regardless. Hanamiya made a low humming sound as he thought it over.

Asking a question of this kind could have seemed a little strange out of nowhere, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get the whole thing out of his head until he got some kind of answer. He didn’t really think just talking to Kageyama alone would be enough, but it was better than nothing, at the very least.

“About our memories before the killing game, for the most part,” he glanced back at the other boy, coming to a halt once they were inside the room and everyone else was out of sight.

He hopped down onto one of the benches while Kageyama simply leaned against one of the walls.

“We’ve been finding all sorts of stuff that has to do with that before, right? Like all the files, and those weird videos…” Hanamiya exhaled slowly, recalling it all in his head. “And now those hallucinations… or whatever they were.”

“What about those…?” Kageyama tilted his head slightly, not really getting what Hanamiya was getting at. The latter crossed his legs as he leaned further back in his seat, raising his head slightly so he could look him properly in the eye.

“Mononeko said it himself, right? Our memories almost got overwritten. I think everything we were seeing was part of our memories before they got erased.”

“…It _would_ make sense, huh…” Kageyama nodded slowly, probably still not understanding the whole thing very well and just going along with what Hanamiya was saying. “I don’t really remember much about that though. It’s all just a blurry mess, for the most part…”

It _was_ kind of like that for Hanamiya too.

The boy let his hands curl into loose fists by his sides, biting his lip.

“That’s not just it, though. I don’t recall much from it, but… I saw something really weird at one point.”

“Like what…?”

Hanamiya’s gaze shifted all around before it settled on Kageyama again.

“You remember those videos and everything that came with it, right?”

He waited for Kageyama to nod before he continued.

“I was… in some kind of an unfamiliar place, I’m not sure… but I remember being asked questions by somebody,” he frowned slightly as he tried to get his memory to clear up even more without much success. “It made me remember the videos in particular.”

“Do you remember recording yours or something?” Kageyama blinked, but Hanamiya shook his head.

“No, but… I feel like it’s connected to that. Uhm…” he fiddled with his sleeves, finding that this was one of those rare occasions when he had absolutely no idea how to properly put into words what he wanted to say. “I remember being asked why I was there, and… _I said I came there to die._ ”

He held up a hand before Kageyama could speak, drawing it back to adjust his glasses slightly.

“We know next to nothing about the memories we’re missing, right? And if the files can be believed, we all had some… pretty bad stuff happen to us,” he pursed his lips. “For all we know, our selves in the future might be completely different people.”

“I wouldn’t sign up for a killing game willingly,” Kageyama immediately objected, of course, looking absolutely incredulous - and yeah, Hanamiya couldn’t blame him. He closed his eyes.

“Whatever it was, we signed up to that _Final Wish Project_ \- shouldn’t the name of it be alarming enough for you? Even if we weren’t aware that it was a killing game at the time, I just can’t shake the thought that this whole thing was rotten to the core from the start…”

“Even so…” Kageyama’s voice trailed off, as though he wasn’t quite sure himself how he could argue against that. His head hanging low, he buried his face in his hands for a few seconds, looking up afterwards as he took a deep breath. “Even if it’s something like that, we don’t know for sure yet… We don’t have to keep jumping to conclusions.”

Maybe that was a good point…

It didn’t get rid of the uncomfortably tight feeling in Hanamiya’s stomach, but it did make him want to put the matter aside for now.

At least there was another topic he could quickly switch to.

“…On another note, then,” he took it upon himself to let the previous, kind of heavy topic drop, to Kageyama’s obvious relief. “Do you remember meeting any of us before we met in here - as in inside the program…?”

“Meeting you guys…? No, I’m pretty sure this was my first time,” Kageyama shook his head slowly. “Do _you_ …?”

“…Not quite _meeting,_ it’s just…” Hanamiya furrowed his brows slightly in frustration. “I feel like I know things that I shouldn’t. It’s… pretty strange.”

“Are you sure it’s not just you? I don’t really have anything like that…”

“No, it’s-“ Hanamiya cut himself off, sending the other boy a flat look instead of trying to argue. After settling his thoughts for a few seconds, he spoke up again, raising a hand slightly to point at him. “You used to gamble.”

“…Eh?”

It took a moment for Kageyama to take in what he just said, and he gave a nervous laugh afterwards, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“I never told you about that…”

“Yeah, exactly,” Hanamiya nodded his head vigorously now that he had a way of proving his point. “You didn’t tell me about it. But I know about it anyway, and I don’t know how or why.”

Kageyama paused for a bit before he raised his hands in a defensive move, breathing a deep sigh.

“Alright, so… maybe we _have_ met before. Maybe… it was because of that thing we all signed up to.”

“Probably, yeah…” Hanamiya shrugged, much calmer once he was being taken seriously. “I’d want to ask everyone else too, but I guess we might not have time for that…”

“We spent a pretty good while talking in here, yeah,” Kageyama flashed him a crooked smile, finally pushing himself away from the wall. Hanamiya was just hoping this wouldn’t be a reason for them to run out of time again… “Still, I wonder why I don’t remember anything about it…”

“Maybe the smarter you are, the more you remember, eh?” Hanamiya gave him a meaningful look, Kageyama feigning taking offense to that.

“Oh, shut up.”

“I’m just joking anyway,” Hanamiya stifled a barely audible snicker, softly punching Kageyama on the arm and wincing a little as he drew his hand back, not having expected such a hard impact. Eyes sparkling, Kageyama lifted a hand to more than likely smack him on the back again, then walking ahead with held back laughter at Hanamiya’s scandalized expression.

It wasn’t _his_ fault that it hurt like hell, geez…

Once they were out in the hallway, Hanamiya stretched his back a little, looking around to see if anything was different - then raising a brow right away. Every single door seemed to be wide open this time around, including all of the bedrooms as well. He was pretty sure he’d closed his own door this morning, so either that was done by Mononeko, or he just had a really bad memory.

Kageyama seemed to come to a halt, already knowing what he was thinking.

“We… really shouldn’t look in the girls’ rooms, you know,” he blurted out soon enough, Hanamiya subtly rolling his eyes. If the current situation was any less serious, he might’ve let him convince him of that, but _come on_ , this wasn’t the time for meaningless chivalry or whatever.

“We’ll be quick, it’s fine,” he stated firmly, already dragging him towards one of the rooms in a corner despite Kageyama’s repeated objections.

“There can’t be anything _that_ important in there if they were all left open like that,” Kageyama insisted, coming to a halt right in front of Minamoto’s room, not letting Hanamiya drag him any further. “Let’s just check Izumi’s and leave it at that.”

Knowing full-well that he wasn’t nearly strong enough to drag Kageyama inside no matter how hard he tried, Hanamiya reluctantly let go of him, letting out a small huff. He was sure the girls would have checked the boys’ rooms without hesitation; what was so bad about this? What’s the worst thing that could happen, really?

As soon as he stepped inside the room, however, the door to the bathroom slowly creaked open, and he could see just enough of the girl inside to make him freeze. It wasn’t like a bare shoulder and collarbone was enough to get him flustered, mind you - he honestly couldn’t care less, if he had to be honest -, but the dripping wet hair indicating that the girl peering out at him may have just gotten done taking a quick shower did make him feel kind of… uncomfortable.

Clutching the door tight enough for her fingertips to start turning white, Minamoto let out a faint whine before quickly slamming the door shut once more, her voice coming out muffled from the other side.

“W-why would you just walk in like that!?”

“The… door was wide open, you know…” Hanamiya blinked a few times, taking a step backwards. “Why are you showering at this time anyway…?”

“I have to shower b-before putting on clean clothes, geez…! And I’m pretty sure I closed the door before I came in!”

Yeah, okay, so Mononeko was just being _extremely annoying_ as usual. Hanamiya wasn’t quite sure why Minamoto would bother putting on a million layers again even if she _had_ found replacements for her bloody clothes, but he decided to leave it at that, carefully walking back out before she changed her mind and decided to smack him with the nearest object.

Then again, considering how weak she was it might not even hurt.

“I told you so…” Kageyama leaned against the wall, wearing the same expression Hanamiya would have probably given him if he’d gone ahead and did something clearly stupid. Showing just the faintest signs of annoyance, Hanamiya resisted retorting in a smartass manner and simply cleared his throat instead.

“Whatever… let’s just move on.”

“Let’s just check Izumi’s, alright?” Kageyama repeated himself from before, Hanamiya following him with quiet mutters under his breath.

The first thing Hanamiya took when they got there was the tablet, naturally - he didn’t really have a specific enough of an idea to start guessing the password just yet, so he figured he’d either try later or during the trial.

The next thing that caught his eye was the rather large poster - or whatever the hell that thing was - in front of one of the walls. Kageyama, being the taller one of the two, stood on his tiptoes to peer at it himself as Hanamiya examined it carefully, having to squint a little, more due to his own faulty sight than the size of the text.

_Born in 2000 on May 12th, Izumi Mamoru is quite a talented actor, although he’s only started gaining fame recently. He seems to be more popular with girls due to his dashing looks, but several of his roles in action movies have caught the eye of the male audience as well. He’s reported to have a friendly and mellow attitude, and he appears to be quite knowledgeable about popular culture._

_His private life seems to be a bit of a mystery as he generally seems to avoid talking about it, but both his parents appear to be of good health. He has two younger sisters, one of which has passed away a few years ago while the other one is reported to have frequent visits to the hospital. Regardless of what the reason behind that is, he does not seem to be willing to share it._

The rest was pretty much just miscellaneous rambling of the same nature, boring enough that Hanamiya only bothered to just quickly scan the text in case he could find something more out from it. At least they finally had a confirmation of his talent - although he already kind of figured it would be something along those lines.

Kageyama whistled behind him.

“Is he one of those super rich guys or something…? Damn…”

“With a talent like that, more than likely,” Hanamiya hummed, rubbing his eyes a little afterwards. “I highly doubt his role in his killing game wasn’t a lot more important than Mononeko made it seem…”

Hopefully they’d be able to gather some more info later on.

Either way, he was still pretty unsure about the voting during the trial at the moment… He still wanted to leave, naturally, but Mononeko did bring up the idea of a reset… and that would revive all the avatars that have died, right? He _did_ want to find out more about that before they just went for it, but it did seem like a pretty tempting option right now…

Promptly pushing the thought out of his head, he took a deep breath. It would be better to go into everything without some kind of a biased viewpoint, even if it did seem unlikely that he’d be able to do that. It would only give Mononeko an advantage if they were to make any uninformed decisions…

Nodding to himself once he made up his mind, he turned around to look at Kageyama.

“Let’s go look around some more while we still can. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Your phrasing is so fancy, damn…” Kageyama remarked with an amused smile before flicking his hat. “But yeah, sure, I’ll try my best… captain.”

Hanamiya didn’t even acknowledge that with a response as he proceeded to pull him outside, wondering where they should go next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> h e l l o  
> i have delivered, as promised  
> now i can say for sure that the investigation chapter will be the one thatll take a while (a week?? who knows eh)


	27. Thinking time

The Shironeko room was… _an experience_ to check, to say the least. Hanamiya certainly hadn’t been expecting a life-sized cardboard cutout of him to be right in the center, although he did suppose it was better than the real thing.

It was the text hung up on the wall in an identical manner to Izumi’s that occupied most of his attention as he tried to ignore the cat drilling a hole into his back with its stare, although to his relief the information this time around seemed to be much more concise and to the point. Either everything about Izumi was cut out from some kind of article - very likely, considering the nature of it -, or the mastermind just really enjoyed wasting their time. Whichever it happened to be, it was still hovering between mildly annoying and frustrating as all hell.

On a much, much more satisfying note, at least all the mystery about Shironeko seemed to have reached its conclusion. As Hanamiya suspected, Shironeko had been created with Izumi as his base, some of the childish characteristics combined with the victim complex shining through quite obviously, albeit in a much more simplified manner.

As they would later discover, the same applied to Kuroneko, although the identity of her origin seemed to have been left out. Hanamiya had a hard time thinking it was anyone but the mastermind, if he had to be honest - and it left him wondering briefly whether the gender of the cats were important at all.

Either way, they were heading towards the library at the moment, hoping they’d be able to find more things out there.

“Say, do you have any guesses for the password yet?” Kageyama shot him a curious glance, Hanamiya puffing his cheeks out lightly - either out of embarrassment that he still hadn’t cracked it, or out of annoyance that Kageyama was asking questions instead of trying to think of it himself.

“I have ideas, but no names yet. But I imagine it’ll let us retry even if we do miss a few times,” Hanamiya pursed his lips, entering the room. He was basing that on his own tablet at home for the most part, but he was _hoping_ it’d be fairly accurate - if anything, the tablet having any kind of lockdown function would just make things inconvenient for Izumi, right?

Kageyama hummed under his breath as he followed him inside.

“Mhm, that’s a good point… I was just thinking of using one of the sisters’ names, to be honest,” Kageyama brought it up with a small shrug, Hanamiya thinking it over. “You remember them, yeah?”

“Aiko and… Kotone…?” Hanamiya recalled with just the tiniest bit of difficulty, glad that his memory still seemed to be fine if nothing else. “What, you wanna give it a shot right now?”

“If it can help us find the mastermind, then yeah,” Kageyama nodded stopping in his tracks to lean against the wall for now. “Even if it doesn’t work, we’ve nothing to lose.”

That was fair enough; Hanamiya really couldn’t argue with that. Glancing at the tablet in his hands, he unlocked the screen, finally pulling up the keypad with the security screen and all. From what he could see, the maximum amount of letters he could enter were 6, so to his relief he didn’t have to try multiple combinations with the first and last names and whatnot.

Unfortunately, though, neither of the two names worked - although Hanamiya did figure Mononeko wouldn’t make it that easy for them. He straightened his back with a sigh, shaking his head to show Kageyama that they didn’t get a hit. Kageyama looked pretty disappointed, but it wasn’t like the situation could be helped.

“Whelp, that’s that. Let’s get back to business,” Hanamiya dusted his hands off before adjusting his glasses.

Dodging another fatal back pat from Kageyama, he headed for the back, turning his head to see if he could spot anything out of place. It seemed as though every clue Mononeko had left would stand out in some way - for better or for good. He had to admit it made him a bit less observant since he knew what to expect to find already, but he brushed the thought aside for now.

The first thing he spotted was some kind of form that could be filled out that he was _sure_ he didn’t recognise, but the contents gave him feelings of familiarity, as though he should be able to recall seeing this before. Once a few more phrases caught his eye, he was sure he knew what that was about, but it didn’t stop his eyes from gradually going wider and wider as he read on.

_Based on various factors, we’ve determined that you are suitable for the Final Wish Project! If you wish to join the project, please fill out this form and hand it to the person you received it from, along with a video file whose required contents you may find listed underneath._

_The Final Wish Project, as you may or may not be aware, was made just for people like you. If you’ve lost all faith in yourself, if you can’t find a meaning in your life, don’t fret; we’re here to offer you a solution._

_We will need 14 participants for this project - it will be an experiment of some sort, and at the end of it, you are most likely going to die. However, there is an upside! In exchange of offering your life for the good of our society, you will be permitted to ask for one thing of your choice. As the company we are sponsored by is rather large, do not be afraid to even ask for large amounts of money - the sky is the limit!_

_The details of the experiment will be given to you on the address at the bottom, as the information is not to be shared carelessly - as such, we need your written consent before we can tell you anything._

_Your full name:_

_Your age:_

_The full name of your legal guardian(s):_

_Your wish:_

_Your hobbies:_

The last part was a bit… out of place; Hanamiya’s frown deepened considerably. Then again, considering the nature of this killing game, it was fitting in a way… If their talents weren’t assigned by Hope’s Peak, it would only make sense that they couldn’t refer to them as Super High School Level.

At least this provided an explanation of some kind, as disconcerting as it was… Putting it together with the files and videos in his head was easy enough.

As Kageyama opened his mouth to remark on it, Hanamiya rewarded him with a slight jab in the side and walked towards the side as the other boy whined about it. For once, he was glad that Kageyama’s attention was so easy to divert - this was one thing he wasn’t ready to discuss until he thought it over enough times in his head to be able to handle it properly. It was that heavy of a matter, in the end…

Spotting a laptop placed onto one of the desks behind a bookshelf, Hanamiya raised a brow as he approached it, then hesitantly took a seat so he’d be able to see everything better. Having glasses really could be a pain at times…

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_Anon-chan!_ ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ _You told me to contact you once I got permission to use the software, so here I am! Did you miss me?_

_ Anon-chan _

_What’s with your username…? If you’re going to message me, at least make sure I can tell who you are._

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_So mean!_ (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ _I’ve already told you my name before… Izumi Mamoru, remember?_

_ Anon-chan _

_Of course I remember, that’s not what I meant._

_Anyway… putting that aside, do you have the necessary equipment? We can just store it on the island if we can’t find another place for it. It’s not like anybody will be looking there anyway._

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_Yeah, yeah, I’ve got everything… More importantly, let’s talk about the game itself!_ ( ´ ▽ ` ) _You said it’d be a killing game, right?_

_ Anon-chan _

_Yeah, that’s right. It’d be better for the format we’re doing. And it’s to your taste anyway, right?_

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_Yep! I already have so many ideas!_ (╯✧▽✧)╯ _If we’re doing this, we gotta take it seriously, after all. We gotta have a cute mascot or two too, people love those. And since we’re erasing everyone’s memories anyway, might as well plant some fake ones. We need a reason for everyone to be in one class anyway…_

_ Anon-chan _

_Your priorities are still screwed up, huh?_

_Let me remind you that we still don’t have enough people._

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

(´ ∀ ` *) _I’m sure that’ll be solved sooner or later. I’m more curious about whether you’re going to hide or not._

_ Anon-chan _

_Why would I want to hide…?_

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_We want the reveal of the mastermind to be a surprise, right?_

_ Anon-chan _

_Even so, it’d just be stupid if it was someone they’ve never met…_

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

∑(O_O;) _That’s true! I guess we’ll have to think that through more carefully…_

_ Anon-chan _

_Yes. Either way, I’ll let you handle the fake memories, if you want to implement them. I’ve no interest in that sort of thing._

_ Kirakira _ _ ★ _ _ majigirl _

_Understood!_ <(￣︶￣)> _I’ll tell you my ideas later._

_ Anon-chan _

_Sure, sure…_

“D’you think those are Izumi and the other mastermind…?”

Hanamiya glanced over his shoulder to see Kageyama staring at him, then gave a small shrug.

“I can’t really think of anyone else that they could be.”

“Mononeko could’ve shown us more of this, geez…” Kageyama frowned lightly, crossing his arms. “This is way too confusing for me.”

“You say that like it’s not confusing for anyone…” Hanamiya mumbled, trying to see if he could find more stuff on the laptop. It seemed like the true mastermind was treating this as a game after all - which wasn’t the most surprising thing, but it made his blood boil just a bit more nevertheless. Even if nobody that died here was really _dead_ , to take this in such a lighthearted manner…

He closed his eyes for a few seconds to regain his composure, standing up once he realised he wouldn’t be able to find anything else here.

“Kageyama-kun,” he called out to the boy, who blinked in surprise. “Do you remember what year the Final Wish Project was supposed to take place in?”

Kageyama thought about it for a moment, making a low humming sound as his head gradually tilted to the side - he must not have been very good with numbers. Well, whatever - Hanamiya could recall as far as he could remember, he just wanted to be _absolutely_ certain.

“2020… right?” Kageyama finally asked, Hanamiya letting out a subtle sigh of relief. So he did remember it right after all.

Lifting a hand slowly, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“So there’s a 3 year difference, huh…” he muttered, doing his best to organize everything they’ve learned so far in chronological order silently. When Kageyama sent him a questioning glance, he shook his head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s finish checking this room and move on to somewhere else.”

Kageyama didn’t argue too much, following him without a word; he was more than likely already having difficulty keeping everything in his mind. It wasn’t that he was stupid or anything, no - even Hanamiya knew that much - but rather, he was the type who found it hard to focus on so many things at once. Although… maybe he wasn’t the most observant guy around either.

The next stop where they found anything of note was Kuroneko’s room, then after that, the cinema, although the latter was so subtle Hanamiya almost brushed it off as just Mononeko messing with them.

On the large projection screen on the other side of the room played some kind of a recording - at first, Hanamiya thought it was footage from the killing game that Mononeko had obtained with the security cameras, but something about this just felt… off. Kageyama was ready to move on, of course, but Hanamiya grabbed onto his sleeve to stop him from leaving, prompting a puzzled question that he completely ignored.

Raising his hand, Hanamiya pointed at the screen while a particularly strange bit of footage was playing.

“Kageyama-kun… over there, that’s me, right?”

Kageyama glanced between the screen and Hanamiya several times, giving a kind of half-assed nod.

“Yeah, why…?”

Hanamiya’s question had been rhetorical, of course; _obviously_ he’d be able to tell if he was looking at himself or not. More importantly, though… as far as he could tell, he appeared to be talking to Yokoyama, and he wasn’t wearing his glasses. They were crouching on the floor and looking around, so he could only guess that they were looking for them, but…

Even if he’d forgotten whether or not they’d ever had a one-on-one conversation, he was sure he’d be able to recall if he’d lost his glasses at any point - as annoying as they were, he was pretty lost and defenseless without them. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, nothing popped up in his memory even after careful searching.

Despite that, however, the subtle feelings of familiarity only increased - he _should_ be able to recognise that, and yet he _shouldn’t_. It felt as though it’s happened before, and yet it felt so wrong, so out of place…

All these conflicted thoughts made his head hurt, and he shook it in an annoyed manner in an attempt to soothe himself somehow. The experience was all too similar to when he’d gotten his memories all mixed up earlier, and the feeling didn’t get any more comfortable with time.

“I don’t remember this… but I feel like I should,” was what he ended up saying, almost feeling like his mouth was moving on its own.

“You sure it’s not just your memory…? You keep remembering things that didn’t happen, and then don’t remember things that did, apparently…” Kageyama’s voice trailed off as Hanamiya narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms.

“Need I remind you of the time I knew something you’d never told me?”

It seemed like he did need to remind him, because as soon as realisation flashed in Kageyama’s eyes, he apologised with a sheepish grin.

“Yeah, that’s right… Sorry.”

Hanamiya shook his head in disbelief with a small huff, unable to feel somewhat irritated - more so because of the situation and less because of Kageyama’s absentmindedness. He just _couldn’t stand_ being this lost, having this little information.

Then again, the trial would be here soon enough… At least that’d provide some kind of a solution, hopefully. It wasn’t like their lives… or their avatars’ lives were at stake this time around, so the worst case scenario had already been dodged, unless Mononeko or the mastermind had something else in store for them.

The next place of importance was the art gallery. Hanamiya was ready to dismiss the place pretty much after a single glance - there wasn’t much room for anything to be inside, so why wouldn’t he? -, then stopped in his tracks once he actually got a look inside. Kageyama apologised repeatedly when he crashed into him behind after a sudden stop like that, but Hanamiya barely heard anything from what he said, busy staring at the interior instead.

The room that had been full of pictures of Mononeko before looked almost empty now, as only 16 framed photographs hung on the walls this time around. Each of them had a nameplate under it with the respective person’s name, and each of them depicted a person out of the original group of 16.

Walking up to his own, Hanamiya gave it a long, prying stare, as though attempting to penetrate it with only his gaze was going to give him more answers. That was him, alright - and yet somehow, he looked different. He had the same kind of clothes he’d gotten used to wearing - a somewhat worn out sweater with otherwise neatly ironed clothes routinely washed by his mother, and the same tie he’d been wearing from middle school, albeit looking like it might slip off any moment.

His haircut was mostly the same, and he still had his glasses… but something about the face just didn’t feel right. He seemed just a bit thinner somehow, the usually barely noticeable circles under his eyes now glaringly obvious, as though he’d pulled multiple all-nighters in a row. In the videos they’d seen earlier, he had a feeling that something about their appearances just didn’t look that right, but he’d been honestly much more distracted by the information itself than the footage - so now that he could get a good, long look at something like this, the only conclusion he could arrive at was that it had been taken before they had their memories erased.

So this was him from the future, huh…? It was strange, acknowledging something like that…

As he walked alongside the wall, each image gave him a similar feeling - even when he couldn’t remember the others’ faces all that well, especially the ones that had been killed at the start, he could recall them well enough to be able to tell that it was the same person, just a little different.

Yokoyama looked a bit taller, her hair cut in a neater fashion, Takahashi’s hair had grown out a little, his roots showing even more, Nakajima had finally managed to get a haircut, Aragaki’s clothes seemed to have gotten more colorful than before, Akiyama had obtained a few more piercings, Natsume had a few more scars to show, Fujinomiya was wearing contacts instead of her obnoxiously large and thick glasses, Minamoto had fixed her bangs, Komatsu’s golden eyes were clearly visible, Hayama was wearing her hair in a ponytail, Kageyama’s hat was missing, Chiba’s hair had gotten shorter, and…

Izumi looked mostly the same, apart from the ever so slightly messier hair and way, way fancier clothes than anything Hanamiya had seen him wear. Sakurauchi, on the other hand, looked _way_ different. She was somewhat less tan, the majority of her hair now black with the tips still a bit white, and her eyes were the dull gray color Hanamiya had gotten used to seeing once she’d presumably taken her colored contacts out. Some people could go to pretty great lengths to change their appearance, eh?

Tsutsui was another person he was quite curious about, he had to admit that - he’d never seen her without her mask after all -, and honestly, once he could actually see her photo… she looked breathtaking. Even with the faint aura of discomfort that had been visible in each picture, she almost seemed like a doll, especially with the makeup she was wearing. Even if she was uncomfortable without hiding her face in front of others and all, Hanamiya couldn’t fathom the idea why someone so pretty would go around with a mask on at all times.

In the end, though… he supposed it was none of his business.

Stretching his back a little, he let out a brief sigh, turning to Kageyama who seemed to be very, very occupied with his own picture. As Hanamiya cleared his throat, the boy flinched before putting on an easygoing smile, turning around to look at him properly.

“I guess it’s time to go now, yeah?”

Hanamiya gave him a long, prying look that he actually withstood this time around, then nodded.

“Yeah…”

Kageyama must have still been bothered by the disconnect between their future selves.

For someone so optimistic, Hanamiya did suppose it might be a bigger concern than for someone like him… even if it wasn’t something he liked acknowledging either. Even so, there would be no point in ignoring it as long as there was a _shred_ of a chance that it was for real. And since Mononeko hadn’t presented fake evidence to them so far, it would only make sense that he wouldn’t do that this time either, even if there was still room for doubt.

Giving Kageyama’s back a small pat, Hanamiya headed ahead.

The theater was… something else.

He’d seen plenty of disturbing things so far - honestly? With how many gory series he’d seen, he was sure he’d been completely desensitized to it as long as it wasn’t realistic -, but even so, everything about the room was just extremely uncomfortable.

Countless small dolls were hanging by threads from the ceiling, each of them misshapen in some way - some of them were covered in splatters of red paint, part of the stuffing hanging out from small cuts, while others had parts of them colored purple or blue, some of them having tiny coils of rope around their necks.

As far as Hanamiya could tell… every doll resembled a person out of the group, several of them having multiple dolls hanging around.

Once Kageyama caught up to him, he didn’t seem like he was appreciating it any better.

“Is this… some kind of weird ritual or something…?” he blurted out, slightly and subtly adjusting his hat so it could cover his eyes a bit more.

“What, you mean like those voodoo dolls…?” Hanamiya’s face scrunched up ever so slightly at the thought. “Whatever this is, I’d rather just leave it be…”

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he probably would’ve jumped had Kageyama not pointed at a banner in the distance simultaneously, and his gaze settled on said object as he followed his directions.

Written entirely in capital letters was what appeared to be either the title of this… unsettling display, or some kind of an announcement related to it; Hanamiya had to both squint and walk closer to be able to read it properly nevertheless.

_KILL OR BE KILLED_

_HAPPY KILLING TIME!_

“How pleasant…” Hanamiya mumbled under his breath, tone dripping with sarcasm, Kageyama staring at a doll of him with an expression that was practically screaming discomfort.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie… this isn’t a place I’d wanna hang out in. Let’s just see if there’s anything else in here or the storage then book it.”

Hanamiya couldn’t agree more.

By the time they were done searching the entire place, he was pretty certain he was done with dolls for the rest of his life as well, and let the relief settle in properly when he stepped out into the hallway again.

Was that _really_ a clue…? Maybe Mononeko just put it there to toy with them even more - he most definitely wouldn’t put it past him. If he just wanted to shake them up briefly, he succeeded at the very least.

As they passed through the hallway, he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder a few times. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for - perhaps someone _smarter_ than Kageyama so he could share his thoughts with them and feel a bit more at ease. Or just someone who could actually remember things the way he did, he supposed…

He let out a deep sigh, somewhere in the back of his mind wondering if there was ever gonna be an end to this. Unanswered questions popping up one after another… it was almost like the mastermind was specifically trying to get on his nerves as much as possible.

If only he could figure out that damn password…

On the other hand, something that was no surprise at all was a cardboard cutout of Mononeko with a description in the monitor room. He didn’t have his own room like Kuroneko and Shironeko, so there weren’t that many places something like this could’ve been placed in.

Fortunately this one proved to be even more useful than the other two had been.

From what he could tell, Mononeko’s personality itself had been created by taking elements from the other cats and mixing them together, and he did indeed appear to be above the two. While the mastermind appeared to be able to be excused from every rule unrelated to killing, Mononeko really was the ultimate rule enforcer here - although the part about the mastermind did cause Hanamiya to pause for a bit.

Something like that… It must have only been implemented to prevent Izumi and the true mastermind from double crossing each other - although it seemed like it ended up happening anyway. Hanamiya would’ve probably found that kind of funny if it hadn’t been for the current situation and all.

He raised his head once a familiar, yet even more robotic than usual voice called out to him, somewhat flinching in the process. One of the monitors had lit up to display Mononeko in all his glory, posing in an obnoxious manner.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Hanamiya-nyan and Kageyama-nyan! I was worried Sakurauchi-nyan was the last visitor I got. It’s pretty boring keeping the peace here, you know.”

“What do _you_ want?” Hanamiya narrowed his eyes, Kageyama only shifting around for now, not really sure how to react to this sudden development. Mononeko giggled.

“Not much, really. I was just wondering about how Sakurauchi-nyan was doing.”

Something about what he was saying felt… strange, but Hanamiya couldn’t quite put a finger on it yet, instead choosing to roll his eyes in an obvious display of annoyance.

“Look, if you’re just here to distract us, you can spare us from this charade or whatever. Shoo, shoo,” he gestured with his hands as though trying to get a bird to fly away, but Mononeko remained unfazed.

“Oho, so you guys still don’t know, huh? I guess Sakurauchi-nyan didn’t get to tell you anything. She must be dead or something…” he let out a sigh, Hanamiya raising a brow at what he said.

“What are _you_ talking about…?”

“Oh, _now_ you want to know!” Mononeko huffed, more playfully than anything before he continued. “I’m separate from the main unit, so whatever that guy knows is irrelevant to me. I’m just the guardian here, you know. A janitor, if you will!”

Yeah, that made a lot more sense - now Hanamiya realised why he’d been getting such a weird aura from the cat. Still, Mononeko was Mononeko, whether he had the same data or not, and this newfound information didn’t make him any less annoying.

“I hope you guys at least thanked her or something,” Mononeko continued despite the lack of a response - apparently he was even more attention-seeking when he was confined to a single computer. “She had to go through a lot of trouble to disable the executions for you!”

“You know about that?” Kageyama was the one to step forward this time, and Mononeko nodded cheerfully.

“Why, of course! I watched her do it from over here. I _did_ lend a bit of a helping hand at one point, but never mind that.”

“You did…?” Kageyama blinked in confusion, not really sure if he heard that right. “Why?”

“To make things more fun, duh. This game is already scrapped anyway according to the mistress, so I figured I’d lend you kids a hand to see what comes out of it. Not that I can see it personally…” his tone gradually turned disappointed by the end as his head hung low, even pouting a little.

“The mistress…?” Hanamiya repeated, wondering what that could’ve meant. Did it refer to the true mastermind…? And if it did, would that mean that it’s a girl? It would be pretty silly to just go with it without thinking, of course, but it _would_ narrow down the list quite a bit if it was…

Kuroneko had been a girl as well, hadn’t she?

“Anyway, do you guys wanna give me a summary or something?” Mononeko waved his paw in a dismissive manner, not wanting to spend too much time explaining stuff himself. “I’ve all the time in the world, so if you wanna update me on what’s been happening-“

Before he could finish the sentence, the monitors nearby lit up, the same announcement they’d heard before playing once again.

“Time’s up, children! Gather in front of the Mononeko statue if you don’t want to be skewered anytime soon.”

Hanamiya would’ve thought Mononeko would’ve modified it just this once, since this was supposed to be the final class trial and all, but… it wasn’t like he really cared all that much in the end.

Bidding the whiny Mononeko in the computer a silent farewell, the boys left for the first floor, Hanamiya hoping with all his heart that they didn’t miss anything this time. Even if they weren’t going to die by making the wrong choice, and even if they could just get lucky and pick the better option without being fully aware of their circumstances, he would’ve much preferred to not take any chances.

Once they got to the statue, though, he did get startled this time - by a small tug on his sleeve, no less. He turned to the side to see Tsutsui averting her gaze to the side bashfully, her hands behind her back. When she saw that he was actually looking at her, she quickly whipped her phone out, doing her best to type with one hand as fast as possible.

“I was thinking everyone might need some encouragement before the trial starts, and I didn’t get the chance to hand these over beforehand, so…”

She hesitated before quickly shoving something in Hanamiya’s hands, immediately handing another one to Kageyama afterwards before any of the two could even react. Hanamiya blinked a few times before registering that the thing he was holding appeared to be a small plushie of a hamster with buttons for eyes, a red ribbon tied around its neck. It was… kind of cute, even he had to admit that.

Tsutsui almost seemed nervous about the lack of a response - she must’ve still been somewhat on edge after everything that’s happened -, so Hanamiya made a low humming sound before he finally decided on what the appropriate way to react would be.

“Tsutsui-san,” he called out to the girl, her eyes sparkling with hope at the rather serene tone, “I’m not really sure what I’ve done to deserve this, but… thank you.”

Tsutsui’s expression brightened up considerably right away, and she was quick to reply.

“It’s a gift, so don’t worry about it! I want everyone to be able to work things out together, so if I can find a way to help with that somehow, that’ll make me happy enough!”

The response was so sweet Hanamiya almost averted his gaze in embarrassment.

As Kageyama ruffled the much shorter girl’s hair, almost knocking her hat off in the process, Hanamiya looked around to see who else had arrived - not that there were that many people missing, unfortunately. There were only 6 of them now, huh…

Chiba was already sitting close by, looking pretty impatient but clearly trying his absolute best to maintain his composure, and Minamoto was crouching next to one of the walls, staring at the rabbit plushie in her hand, all starry-eyed with her cheeks slightly flushed. So the only one missing was… Fujinomiya, then.

Just as Hanamiya took note of that, however, said girl came rushing down from the stairs, almost tripping over herself and ending up on the floor in the process. She only stopped once she reached the statue, panting heavily and leaning against it as she attempted to catch her breath, and once her eyes met with Hanamiya’s, she gave him a shaky smile. Did she mean that as encouragement, perhaps…?

Well, whatever was the case, everyone was finally here. Hanamiya didn’t need to look to know that the elevator had arrived when it did, and he was the first one to enter for a change, standing the closest to it and all.

On their way to the courtroom, he pursed his lips, arranging all the clues they’d found so far, the tablet clutched to his chest along with the plushie he’d just been given. They should be fine, right…? As long as they all remain calm, the trial should be no problem… Repeating the same phrases to himself over and over to soothe his nerves, he couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved at the reassuring pat on his shoulder by Kageyama on the side.

That’s right… he shouldn’t lose his mind so easily.

Taking a deep breath, he waited for the doors to open with that thought in mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back and holy fuck i feel dead  
> okay um,, fair warning, just looking at my notes rn the trial is looking to be extremely long, and im gonna like,, attempt to trim it down a bit so it doesnt drag on forever but just,, prepare urselves for that just in case


	28. The true mastermind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK HOW LONG THIS IS JESUS CHRIST

“Normally I _might_ give you kids a bit of a break and not bore you with explaining the rules all over again, but this time is a special case, isn’t it?”

With everyone now present for the trial, Mononeko had already begun talking… except, this time around, he wasn’t sitting in his usual throne. Now standing on some kind of stepstool, he’d walked up to one of the podiums as the trial started without a word as though there was nothing wrong with the action.

Even with a few people attempting to interrupt, he resumed talking without much of a worry.

“This trial will have _no_ time limit whatsoever, so don’t worry your pretty little heads about that!” he waved his paw nonchalantly. “And the outcome of the trial itself will be decided by majority vote, as usual. The three current options that you have are as follows:” he cleared his throat, “resetting, leaving, or just remaining in the current version of the program!”

“Do we even know anything about the specifics of resetting aside from what it would do to the ones that have died…?” Minamoto asked once she finally got a word in, nervously glancing around. Before Mononeko could reply, though, Chiba interrupted.

“Putting that aside - why are _you_ standing there?” he narrowed his eyes at Mononeko, impatiently drumming with his fingers on the armrest of the wheelchair. Mononeko swatted at the air in his direction, claws out.

“ _Putting your rude interruption aside_ , of course the cute mascot of the killing game would want to play a bigger part in the finale,” he stated firmly, placing his paws on his hips. “As such, I’ll be taking part in the debate myself. Look forward to it!”

Chiba clicked his tongue, but left the matter at that for now.

“As for Minamoto-nyan’s question - you’ll just have to figure it out for yourselves!” Mononeko continued, the girl frowning at the vague answer. “All I can do is confirm or deny things, you know. It would be pretty lame if I just gave all the mystery away, wouldn’t it?”

Even without him saying that, Hanamiya knew none of them should expect anything even remotely straightforward from him as an answer. Even so, he had faith that they’d be able to do well by themselves… they’d have to.

“You know, on that note…” Kageyama tapped his chin, “how much do we know about this program anyway? Aside from that stuff in the library, it wasn’t much, was it?”

“The stuff in the library…?” Fujinomiya echoed, Hanamiya clearing his throat to provide an explanation himself.

“We already know the whole serenity software thing was to be used for testing… Based on the exchange we found in the library between Izumi-kun and the true mastermind, I believe he must have gotten permission to be able to test it himself,” he said, speaking in a somewhat slow manner as he recalled everything.

“Still, a program of this scale… it wouldn’t be possible to even get near it without being part of the development team, right?” Chiba asked hesitantly, not really sure if he knew what he was talking about.

Something flashed in Fujinomiya’s eyes.

“Not if you were important enough of a person… right?” she shook her head as she spoke before locking eyes with everyone else one after another, seemingly waiting for confirmation. “I mean, there was that poster in Izumi-kun’s room…”

“Oh, that thing?” Minamoto blinked. “The guy was an actor, right?”

“He must’ve had some really good connections to be able to pull this off, huh…” Tsutsui sighed, audibly this time. “He was supposed to be quite famous, wasn’t he? I can’t imagine he wouldn’t be able to finance the entire thing by himself, honestly…”

“I guess that explains why his partner wanted to work together if they were just going to betray him anyway…” Minamoto bit her lip, crossing her arms to keep her fidgety hands still. “They were more than likely taking advantage of him for that exact purpose.”

“And Izumi just went with it, eh? Talk about naïveté…” Kageyama whistled, pouting lightly when Hanamiya sent him a flat, sideways glance.

“As if you’re one to speak…”

“I am a new man, Hanamiya,” Kageyama straightened his back proudly, holding his ground. “My old self might’ve fallen for that, but it’s completely out of the question now.”

_I’m sure it is…_

“…Right,” Minamoto cleared her throat, face scrunching up slightly at the banter. “Either way, going back to what we found at the library… The information should be enough to discern Izumi-kun’s motives for this killing game, right?”

“His motives…?” Kageyama tilted his head, immediately forgetting about the smartass act he’d just put on.

“We should just have Mononeko tell us,” Chiba turned his head to look at the cat, who hissed at him in return.

“I already told you you won’t be getting any freebies from me!”

“It won’t be necessary anyway,” Hanamiya pursed his lips. This much, even he could figure out by himself… especially with adding the journal to everything they’d learned so far. “For Izumi-kun, this whole thing was just a reality show, wasn’t it?”

“I have no doubts right now that he was planning on surviving the killing game,” Minamoto nodded, resuming talking. “This… makes a lot of sense, thinking back on it, doesn’t it? He _did_ seem to be awfully eager to interact with everyone and take up tasks all the time…”

“It was just another role…” Fujinomiya half-muttered, her face just slightly paler than usual. “That’s terrible…”

“Terrible or not, I can’t think of a better explanation,” Hanamiya looked to Mononeko for guidance, who shrunk back at a stare like that.

“What, so you want me to tell you if your hypothesis is correct or not?”

Hanamiya nodded without hesitation, and Mononeko shook his head in disbelief.

“You should have more faith in yourselves, geez… Kids these days are either missing a backbone or have one a few sizes bigger than it should be!” he complained, but obliged anyway since they’d pretty much reached a conclusion at this point. “Sure, sure, you got that right… Izumi-nyan was just playing the role of a protagonist. _His_ idea of a protagonist, rather…”

“You’d think that the Super High School Level Actor would be better at improv…” Minamoto’s frown only deepened, but she still seemed pretty certain about the whole thing. “Whatever, that’s not really important. I guess it’s not like any of our talents are really Super High School Level anyway…”

She sounded a bit sad about it, but Hanamiya didn’t let it bother him too much - not right now.

“Oh, yeah… about that,” Chiba raised his hand as a signal that he wanted to speak, leaning on the other one momentarily. “We’re obviously not in the same class, since we never got invited to Hope’s Peak and all, so…”

“You must be wondering how come we’re all here, right?” Tsutsui waited for him to nod before she cast a worried gaze downwards, fiddling with her phone for a bit. “It has to do with those videos, doesn’t it?”

“And those sign up forms that we found…” Hanamiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully, brows furrowing more and more. He’d already come to his own conclusion about that, true - but it wasn’t like talking about it was uplifting. He’d already seen how Kageyama reacted to it…

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat to gather everyone’s attention. All the eyes on him didn’t even make him nervous at this point, as he was more worried about how his theory would be received instead, but he knew skirting around the issue wasn’t an option right now.

“Some of you haven’t seen that form in the library, right? The one about the Final Wish Project…”

Once he’d confirmed that some people really had no idea what the form in question was, he gave them a brief summary. Kageyama, especially, listened intently - more than likely trying to find a flaw in his thought process ahead of time. He really did want to believe in hope until the bitter end…

“I think…” he paused, less for dramatic effect and more so he could be sure of himself, “we all got picked out because we had something in common. That’s really the only way I can think of how we could’ve received them, just based on the contents…”

“So they had someone deliver them to us?” Fujinomiya tilted her head. “Still… the contents are a bit unsettling, I have to admit…”

_A bit of an understatement, really…_

“What _is_ something that we have in common, though?” Chiba crossed his arms, puffing his cheeks slightly in frustration. “All of us got fucked over by life at one point, is that it?”

Minamoto probably would’ve jumped at the chance to ridicule him for that, but she didn’t - she stayed silent, her eyes on the floor. Hanamiya had a feeling she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I think that just might be it, Chiba-kun,” Hanamiya’s hands curled into loose fists, Chiba’s face going blank for a moment out of sheer surprise that his sarcastic remark ended up being right.

“Why would it be that…?”

“There was… something else in the form that I haven’t said yet,” Hanamiya took a small glance towards Kageyama, who quickly stepped in to continue himself, his expression still extremely skeptical as though even admitting what the text said was unpleasant for him.

“There was a part that mentioned it was for people who have lost all hope,” Kageyama explained, a hand in his pocket - his posture seemed as easygoing as ever, but there was a feeling of stiffness behind it, like he was only forcing himself. “And the text did mention all who signed up were most likely going to die…”

“…That must’ve been either Izumi-kun’s or the other mastermind’s doing, then,” was all Fujinomiya said at first, her hands trembling ever so slightly. “A company wouldn’t risk sullying their name with that. A-and… it really would make more sense if they kept the killing game a secret to everyone they couldn’t be sure they could trust… I think.”

“That’s… not the point here,” Chiba shook his head, still somewhat in shock after hearing what Kageyama said. “ _I’d_ never agree to something like that - what the hell are you talking about?”

“Still - you had your own video, didn’t you, Chiba-chan?” Tsutsui cut in before either Kageyama or Hanamiya could reply, her expression forcefully composed this time. “Everyone here did…”

“I- I did, but…” Chiba’s voice trailed off before he slammed one of his hands into the armrest. “Even so, do you get what you’re talking about…?”

Lifting his head to look properly into the girl’s eyes, his tone came out sharp.

“You’re saying we basically committed suicide right then and there.”

Silence was the only reaction that got at first, naturally - what could any of them say to that? It wasn’t like what he said was a lie - either proving or disproving that theory was really all they could do at the moment. Even with that, though, Hanamiya could tell none of them had any proof that they could use to argue with that.

“L-let’s not fight over this, okay?” Fujinomiya attempted to chide the two, swallowing nervously before turning to Mononeko - the smile she’d put on was rigid and awkward, the corners of her mouth trembling, resembling a child about to cry. “M-Mononeko can confirm it for us, right?”

“Hmph… I _guess_ I can,” Mononeko gave a small shrug, sounding somewhat annoyed again. “If you ask nicely, maybe…”

Before Fujinomiya could add to that, Chiba sent the cat a glare so dark the temperature in the room seemed to lower significantly.

“Talk before I twist you into a pretzel with my own two hands.”

Even if regular punishments were still a possibility, this wasn’t an empty threat this time - Chiba really did look like he was ready to shatter that damn robot into a billion tiny pieces even if he did have to sacrifice himself in the process. Hanamiya couldn’t say he blamed him.

Mononeko seemed to have recognised that as well, and attempted to soothe him a little before he actually got to the important bit.

“N-now, now, there’s no need for that attitude…” he said in an unnaturally fast manner, clearing his throat afterwards. “If you kids wanna know about your lives before the killing game, you’ve already gotten your files for them anyway.”

That really should have given them a hint about the true nature of the answer they were chasing… looking back on it.

“Even so, just because of that…?” Minamoto practically whispered, biting one of her fingernails. Mononeko crossed his arms.

“Of course it wasn’t _just_ because of that, you dummy. The files were only limited to things related to your education, after all. If you want to know personal stuff, I’m afraid this fantastic feline’s got no idea.”

“Does that mean we really did sign up for this whole thing willingly…?”

Kageyama’s tone was so incredulous Hanamiya couldn’t help but wince a little at the hint of panic in his voice.

“You sure did. You entered the program willingly too,” Mononeko nodded several times as he talked before he raised his voice. “But hey, don’t feel too bad! It wasn’t like you knew you’d have to _kill_ each other.”

That was the tiniest thread of hope Hanamiya had ever clung to.

“Still, to think that you got fooled so thoroughly…” Mononeko snickered. “They never intended to fulfill any of your last wishes, you know. But I guess anything is convincing when you hear it from the mouth of an important person, isn’t it? Or maybe you guys were just this desperate…”

Hanamiya kind of wanted to smash the cat into a wall himself at this point.

“…It’s not like you can prove that to us in any way, though…” Chiba mumbled, trying to resist to the bitter end. “You could be lying for all we know…”

“A-ahh, that’s right,” Kageyama spoke up himself, Chiba sending him a startled look. “It was your fault that Hanamiya got all those weird memories, wasn’t it? How do we know you’re not just messing with us again?”

“ _My_ fault!?” Mononeko sounded kind of outraged, hopping into the air several times into an angry manner. “To think that you’d blame me when I already explained it to you - you really crossed a line there, Kageyama-nyan! Sakurauchi-nyan must be rolling in her grave!”

“It’s because she disabled the executions, isn’t it?”

Hanamiya’s tone was just a bit more flat than usual, but this wasn’t one of the times where he was willing to let his emotions run free - holding onto his composure with an iron fist, he locked eyes with Mononeko.

“No matter how you look at it, it’s weird. Why would something like that cause our avatars to almost get _overwritten_ , of all things?” he narrowed his eyes slightly. “And even if our old memories can still be accessed, I trust my head more than I trust you. And I remember way more than I should, even if I take the events outside the program into consideration.”

Tsutsui’s hand slowly rose.

“Actually, I experienced something similar to that too… But I wasn’t sure what to think of it, to be honest,” she stated, seemingly still a bit uncertain about it. “And there was that footage in the cinema too…”

“Mononeko… if I ask you straight out, you’ll have to answer, won’t you?” Hanamiya pursed his lips, wiping his mildly sweaty palms on his pants. “We’ve already done a reset before, haven’t we?”

It was almost as though everyone else was ready to start yelling over each other any second now, but nobody said a word, not even when Mononeko nodded his head vigorously, clapping his paws.

“You got that right, Hanamiya-nyan. Finally someone figured it out!”

This really did make the most sense out of anything, no matter how Hanamiya looked at it. Everything he recalled… All of that must have been from a previous killing game. As much as the concept made his head hurt a little, now that it had already been confirmed there was no use trying to forget about it.

“But if we’ve already done a reset, why don’t we remember anything…?” Kageyama asked, glancing between the cat and Hanamiya.

“If the avatar is reset, the memories before the reset itself shouldn’t be present, right?” Fujinomiya timidly adjusted her glasses. “The program must store them in the meantime…”

“…Until they’re manually deleted, I’d assume,” Hanamiya finished the thought, Fujinomiya sending him a small smile. “Even if it’s hard to believe, it’s the reason I can think of that makes the most sense.”

“God, how much more convoluted is this going to get…?” Chiba groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose momentarily. “If- if we _have_ done this before, then how many resets have we gone through…?”

“We don’t really have any way of knowing that, do we…?” Minamoto sighed, Hanamiya tapping his chin slowly.

“Would it be possible that that display in the theater has something to do with that?”

“You mean the one with all the deaths and whatnot?” Minamoto raised a brow, crossing her arms as she tried to recall herself. “Even if we use that as a guide, though, it most likely won’t be accurate. How many dolls were there anyway?”

“…Yeah, I’ve no idea,” Hanamiya gave a small shrug. “I guess it’d make just about a few resets, if there were more than one.”

Mononeko cleared his throat all of a sudden, catching everyone else’s attention with ease.

“If you guys want, I could show you! I happen to have a list of the participants that have survived past the 5th trial for each round,” he announced, clapping his paws together twice. It was like he’d been waiting for this moment to be able to say that - he really enjoyed rubbing these things in their faces, didn’t he?

Right after the claps, they all heard a small ‘beep’ in their pockets coming from their e-Handbooks, and they took them out to get a proper look at them only for half the group to almost drop it in the process. It seemed like Mononeko had given them a list indeed, but the final number itself was quite startling.

“There’s… there’s no way we’ve done it that many times, r-right?” Minamoto laughed nervously, taking the whole thing as a prank by Mononeko himself. Hanamiya couldn’t say he blamed her - the only reason he didn’t speak up in such a manner was because this many rounds would certainly explain the large number of dolls in the theater…

“Are you accusing me of giving you fake evidence!?” Mononeko huffed, not at all pleased by Minamoto even questioning that. Fujinomiya swallowed audibly.

“E-even so, isn’t 20 a b-bit too much…?” she stammered out, eyes darting all around the room to see who agreed and disagreed with her. It did seem like the majority of the group had a hard time believing such a claim - Hanamiya kept silent, gripping his handbook tighter by the minute.

“It’s not much at all!” Mononeko shook his head stubbornly, shooting the startled girl a death glare. “This is your 20th killing game, Fujinomiya-nyan; you better appreciate me sharing that information with you! It’s supposed to be top secret, you know.”

“Dude…” Kageyama practically whispered, his mouth forming a small ‘o’ shape at the end before he turned to Hanamiya. “Is that even possible…? You’re the tech guy here, right? You should know.”

Hanamiya was going to object to a title like that - as if he was anywhere _near_ someone like Sakurauchi -, but decided not to for now, not wanting to derail the conversation. Averting his gaze instead, he bit his lip.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible. If the program has been reset so many times, then… that’s that, I guess.”

His voice sounded much, much too cold even in his own opinion, but it was really the only way to keep back the Chiba-esque outbursts - making a scene was most definitely not going to help anyone here, with the possible exception of Mononeko.

“Let’s all calm down, alright?” Tsutsui attempted to soothe everyone else, albeit almost making a typo in the process. She wasn’t liking where this was going either… But then again, who would? Even if this was a fictional time travel story, Hanamiya was sure he wouldn’t have enjoyed a single bit of it - it was almost like Mononeko was just making things up by this point to mess with them.

“Guys,” completely ignoring everything else around him, Chiba spoke up next - and although Tsutsui looked like she was ready to even smack him to make sure he calms down, he seemed more confused than angry this time around. “Is it just me, or is Fujinomiya the only one whose name is in every single one of these?”

The girl didn’t even freeze at the accusation, only blinking in surprise before she looked down at her own handbook, scanning the lists one by one.

“Ehh… Perhaps I’m just this lucky…?” she adjusted her glasses slightly to see better, almost ripping out her hairband when she tried to brush some strands to the side. “Is there really nobody else?”

Hanamiya read over each list as fast as possible, and it seemed like Chiba turned out to be right - Fujinomiya was the only one listed as a survivor in each and every one of these.

“That’s weird…” he muttered, Fujinomiya tilting her head.

“Is it…? Weird, I mean…”

Come to think of it… Kuroneko was-

No, better stop there for now.

As though reading his mind, Fujinomiya seemed to shrink back, her voice trembling so slightly it was barely noticeable.

“Hanamiya-kun… y-you’re not suspecting me, are you?”

“Hey, nobody said anything like that,” Kageyama spoke before Hanamiya could, lifting his hands to gesture for Fujinomiya to calm down. “We’re not jumping to conclusions just yet.”

“Is the password to the tablet still unknown? We could just use that to figure out the mastermind, right?” Chiba brought it up, staring up at the ceiling for a bit as though thinking deeply. Kageyama lowered his hands as he replied.

“Hanamiya and I tried some things, but we didn’t really get anywhere in the end.”

“It’s not someone here, is it?” Minamoto tilted her head as she went through each name in her head one by one. “You know, like Yokoyama-san…”

“I mean, I _could_ try… but just based on the journal, I doubt that,” Hanamiya shook his head. More than anything, it seemed like Izumi either didn’t care much for her, or found her outright annoying. Whichever option it was, she most likely wasn’t even an option to consider.

“Who else is there, though…?” Kageyama breathed a quiet, dejected sigh as Hanamiya leaned a bit more forward, trying to temporarily ignore everything and everyone else so he could be completely sure they hadn’t missed anything.

It wouldn’t be the name of the other mastermind, would it? No, that’d be counterproductive - that’d just make it easier to confirm their identity even without viewing the footage.

Who _would_ Izumi even care about so much? He seemed so, so self-absorbed - Hanamiya could barely fathom the idea that he had _anyone_ that was so important to him, except…

He paused. The idea was pretty damn ridiculous, but… it would fit a guy like Izumi, wouldn’t it? And it wasn’t like simply trying it out could hurt.

As he brought up the keypad on the tablet, he ignored all questions directed towards him and began entering the code he thought of.

M-A-M-O-R-U

To his surprise, his stupid idea actually worked. He kind of wanted to just laugh and laugh hysterically at the irony of it all, the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint, bitter smile. Kageyama whistled once he saw what he’d done, and Hanamiya really had no idea what to think about the situation by now.

He should’ve thought of this sooner, geez…

Even now that he’d gotten it unlocked, though, Mononeko didn’t look worried in the slightest. Was it because he had different intentions from the mastermind? Or was it just because the mastermind themselves wasn’t worried about the outcome of this at all? If this game was _scrapped_ , they were probably just aiming for the group to reset, right…?

He flinched at Minamoto jabbing him in the side with mild annoyance to get him to finally get a move on and check the footage, and he sent her a flat look before he obliged, a little clumsy with the commands at first. First and foremost… they should see how the 5th case went, now. If his suspicions about Fujinomiya were correct after all…

He remained silent as he continued blocking out the chatter around him, flipping back and forth between timestamps and cameras, holding the tablet out each time so everyone could see what was going on.

Izumi being invited by Tsutsui, the girl getting bitten by Kageyama’s snake with the latter getting poisoned, Kageyama being found by Chiba, Chiba being practically tortured by Mononeko before the two were fixed up by the cat - at which point Chiba proceeded to lift his hands before immediately dropping them, not wanting to appear weak by covering his ears to block out the memory of it -, Minamoto snooping around in Izumi’s room and smacking him over the head… All of that aligned with everything they’d learned about the case so far. It was after that, though, where things got a bit… strange.

_Once Izumi had woken up, he curled up into a ball on the floor in the same spot for a bit, muttering to himself so quietly not even the camera could pick up the sound. He soon got on his knees, writing the dying message they’d found on the floor, seemingly choking back a sob as he helped himself stand by holding onto the wall. Before he could stumble outside, though, Fujinomiya stepped into the room herself, and… everything went down exactly as Fujinomiya said it did._

_When Izumi ran towards the stairs, Fujinomiya hesitated for a moment, almost tripping over herself as she finally decided to follow him - although it seemed like he’d already managed to widen the distance between them enough for him to be able to catch his breath._

_When he reached the fifth floor, he first walked towards the greenhouse, stopping next to a paralyzed Tsutsui who was lying on the floor with her eyes shut. Whether she noticed him or not was up to debate as he picked up the knife on the ground next to her - although she was most likely far too out of it at this point to even be aware of her surroundings at all -, and he seemed like he was going to stab her before he changed his mind at the last moment, turning around and walking away, knife still in hand._

_As Sakurauchi left the monitor room, she spotted him in the hallway, freezing at both the blood in his hair and the knife in his hand. She took a step back, wearing a shaky smile._

_“A-are you alright, Izumi-san?”_

_The boy seemed to pause at the question, opening his mouth after a while to reply, but was suddenly interrupted by Fujinomiya finally catching up to him, panting heavily as she leaned on her knees for a moment. When she straightened up, she glanced between the two, taking a step forward._

_“Sakurauchi-san, p-please stay back-“_

_Before she could finish her sentence, though, Izumi promptly gave Sakurauchi a jab in the back of her knee, causing her to double over just enough for him to be able wrap one of his arms around her neck, putting her in a choke hold with the knife pointed right at her._

_“Fujinomiya-san,” he started, his tone rather distant, “I’d stay where you are if I were you.”_

_Fujinomiya did as he said at first before she let out a small giggle, opening her arms wide with an incredulous grin._

_“Ehh, are we doing this now? You do know if you kill her I’m free to act the way I want, right? This is no threat, darling; there are no other witnesses here.”_

_As soon as she was done talking, she rushed towards the pair, fishing a small pocket knife out of her pocket and driving it straight into Izumi’s chest. Sakurauchi fell to the ground with a shocked expression as Fujinomiya proceeded to kick him a few times once he’d stopped breathing to see if he was still alive, then stifled a small snicker before turning to the girl in question._

_“Now then… I guess I should get rid of you before this turns into an even bigger mess.”_

_“F-Fujinomiya-san…?” Sakurauchi managed to call her name out at the very least, seemingly still frozen in shock. Fujinomiya’s expression shifted into a scowl of annoyance as she placed her hands on her hips, looking down at her with clear disdain in her eyes._

_“You’ve been pretty damn irritating from the start, so I guess this should be good for some stress relief.”_

_Picking up the knife Izumi had dropped, she proceeded to leap at the girl and hold her down with a bit of difficulty, stabbing her several times with increasing animosity. She seemed pretty satisfied by the end, wiping the sweat off her forehead before she looked down at her jacket._

_“I guess I should take this back to his room or something…”_

That was about as much as they were willing to watch, and Hanamiya stopped the footage right then and there, legs feeling a little weak after witnessing all of that.

He replayed the events of the killing game - of _this_ killing game - in his head over and over again, each time focusing on Fujinomiya. She had been acting pretty normal up until now, hadn’t she…? Before Sakurauchi and Izumi had died, at least, she just had the attitude of a nervous wreck of a girl who would occasionally gather enough courage to stand up for herself. Was someone like _her_ really the mastermind?

Fujinomiya didn’t seem anxious or anything about any of this - in fact, she seemed to be pouting slightly, the mild annoyance clear in her face.

“Ahh… I thought it’d take a bit longer for you guys to get to that part. I was having fun watching you try to theorize,” she sighed, shaking her head in disbelief before narrowing her eyes at Mononeko. “It’s your fault for making it so obvious.”

Mononeko shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner as Fujinomiya puffed her cheeks.

“Fujinomiya-san…” Minamoto was the first one to call out to her, looking like she had no idea what was going on. “Are you serious…? I mean… the mastermind is you? Just like that?”

“What?” Fujinomiya raised a brow. “I’m not some lame villain that would deny involvement until the very end. There’d be no point for that in a failed killing game anyway - it’d be too much effort.”

She tapped her chin as she hummed under her breath.

“I wonder - is this the time I confess my sad sob story or diabolical plan or something? I don’t really feel like doing that, though…” she combed her fingers through her hair quite nonchalantly before she lifted her glasses up, giving the rest of them a wink. “But I guess I _might_ answer your questions if you ask me nicely.”

Taking her glasses off, she proceeded to simply snap them in half and throw them over her shoulder, dusting her hands off afterwards.

“God, these things are a pain to wear…”

“Fujinomiya, you’re- you’re just joking around, right?” Kageyama laughed awkwardly, nobody else joining in. Fujinomiya examined him from head-to-toe before she rolled her eyes.

“What, you want a business card or something? Give me a break, geez…”

She snapped her fingers before pointing at Mononeko.

“Mono, do me a favor and play my intro footage.”

“Roger that, Mistress,” Mononeko gave a salute before he disappeared into a hatch opening up underneath him, reappearing near his throne to climb onto it and settle in comfortably. Grabbing the button he’d have usually used for the execution, he turned it sideways before pressing it, a holographic image suddenly appearing in the middle of the courtroom - or rather, a video.

_“Good day to you all, my lovely audience!”_ Fujinomiya’s voice sounded throughout the room, except much deeper than they were used to. _“I am pleased to present you the one and only ultimate actress: Fujinomiya Kotori-chan!”_

As Fujinomiya came into view in the recording, wearing a fashionable, cream-colored dress, she bowed her head politely before tilting it sideways with a cheerful smile.

_“I’m Fujinomiya Kotori; nice to meet you all! My talent in acting isn’t recognised yet, but I hope we can get along anyway!”_

She flashed a peace sign before the projection disappeared, leaving everyone else stunned.

“There we go,” the real Fujinomiya nodded in a satisfied manner. “That’s good enough for an introduction, right? You guys should feel flattered that I even bothered to make that in the first place.”

His hands curled into tight fists, Chiba grit his teeth.

“Stop messing with us, Fujinomiya.”

“You’re the ones messing with me, _Yuzu-chan_ ,” Fujinomiya flipped him off without hesitation, Chiba recoiling in mild horror at the nickname. “Robbing my precious time like this… You guys should focus on all the other mysteries and whatnot instead; this meaningless questioning is no fun.”

“Were you the one who killed Nakajima-chan?”

Tsutsui’s ice cold stare would’ve most likely skewered Fujinomiya right then and there if looks could kill, but the latter seemed unfazed, instead actually satisfied that they were getting back on track.

“I had to cover for that stupid Mamo-chan, after all,” she shrugged her shoulders in an easygoing manner, her tone the mix of nonchalance and mild frustration. “He’d have gotten too suspicious too soon if I’d just let Nakajima-chan wave the evidence on him around and whatnot - and I already figured it out that he had enough to use against him when I talked to him. Then again, I guess it wouldn’t have mattered for a scrapped game…”

“…You keep going on and on about a scrapped game, but what really determines that?” Hanamiya raised a brow, staring at her with serene determination. Fujinomiya thought about it for a bit before she replied.

“Anything that’d ruin the plot, I guess. I’d want the killing game to be perfect, after all,” she flashed a sweet and yet sinister smile, clasping her hands together, her tone just a bit sharper than before. “It’s a shame that you guys are so hard to get to cooperate.”

The condescension in her voice was so thick it Hanamiya felt as though he could almost grasp it with his own two hands.

“You lied about the broadcast, didn’t you?” he gave Fujinomiya a long, prying stare, to which she only reacted with a lighthearted smirk at first.

“I’m not the one who told you guys that in the first place, so it’s not like I’m the one who lied.”

She reached for her hairband to adjust it slightly, fixing a couple strands that had gotten loose in the process.

“But _of course_ we wouldn’t be broadcasting it straight away - if we’re not staging anything, we have to wait until we have the perfect take, you know,” she explained in a tone that suggested this should’ve been obvious from the start, loosely crossing her arms afterwards. “It’s a pain, but it’s the best way to do it. I won’t let this chance for media attention go to waste.”

“Is that what this killing game is for? _Media attention?_ ”

Hanamiya couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Fujinomiya almost seemed to be grinning at a reaction like that.

“You make it sound like such a small thing, Taka-chan, I’m impressed. But I guess a spoiled little kid like you would have no appreciation for something like that,” she snickered, stifling it with her hand. “Honestly, if I hadn’t intervened you’d have just taken your life anyway. You should all be grateful to me for still being alive.”

Hanamiya _hated_ how that actually had some logic behind it; he couldn’t stand the fact that what she said was technically correct. Even if it was because of _her_ that they were still alive… she was also the one who made them go through with the killing game - multiple times too, apparently. They couldn’t simply forgive her for something like that just because she also saved their lives…

“Anyway, I’m not the one you should be mad about the game itself anyway,” she stuck her tongue out for a split-second in a smug, teasing manner before she continued. “Mamo-chan is the one who was the most for the idea of a killing game. I just went with whatever would please him so he’d be easy to work together with, really. And _honestly_ , he’s done way worse things if you ask me,” she sighed, her bottom lip jutting out in a pout slightly. “And yet I’m the one getting all the blame just because I ended up being the final villain…”

“At least Izumi didn’t kill anyone…” Kageyama mumbled, catching the attention of Fujinomiya who didn’t seem very impressed by that statement.

“Not as far as _you_ know, at least,” she sent him a flat look, placing one of her hands on her hips. “Should I make a list for you guys? Is that what you’d like - comparing my actions with Mamo-chan? Because even if we’re not counting the previous runs, he’s been nothing but trouble to both of us, really. The only reason I even had to kill Tooru-chan was because Mamo-chan left evidence out in the open like some kind of a dummy.”

“Are you saying he did kill someone, then?” Kageyama raised his voice slightly, straightening his back. “Because that’s what you were implying. But we already know how each case went, so there’s no point in you making things up.”

“You do, now, do you?” Fujinomiya giggled. “It’s funny how you say that; I bet you’d feel sooo much more relieved if you knew about the hand Mamo-chan had in the mess you and Yuri-chan made during the first round…”

Kageyama seemed to freeze at that, his accusatory tone completely gone.

“What do you mean…?”

“It’s about Romi-chan, actually…” Fujinomiya continued, fidgeting playfully with some pretend bashfulness. “You know, Yokoyama Hiromi-chan - didn’t you ever stop to wonder why she happened to be there at the exact same time as you two?”

“That…” Kageyama’s voice trailed off as he blinked once, then twice, kind of shifting around uncomfortably. “It was because she’d made plans with Izumi, right?”

“But, you know, Kazu-chan,” Fujinomiya sent a wink his way, “Mamo-chan knew about your plan all along. He had access to the footage, remember?”

Pages from Izumi’s journal resurfaced in Hanamiya’s memory, and his eyes widened just a little once realisation hit.

He wanted to get rid of Yokoyama, so he caused her to intrude upon Aragaki and Kageyama on purpose, creating a proper victim for the first case and getting rid of someone troublesome for him in the process - it must’ve been two birds with one stone. And to think that Hanamiya actually wanted to have faith in him at the start… Even the mere thought of it made his blood boil.

“But you’re the one who stole the medicine from Komatsu-san, aren’t you…?” Minamoto grasped her scarf tightly. Fujinomiya played with her hair for a bit before she bothered to answer.

“Well, yeah. She was starting to remember things we didn’t want her knowing, so I figured I should do something about that before it got too bad,” she stated, examining her nails. “I’d like to remind you that I’m not the one that killed her. If you want to blame someone, blame Yuki-chan.”

Minamoto’s hands curled into fists as she practically glared daggers at Fujinomiya.

“Don’t you dare pin this on Takahashi-kun - you’re the one who made him go through with it in the first place!” she almost shouted, visibly upset by even the mere mention of his name. For her to actually defend him this time around despite how hurt she felt by Takahashi’s actions… she must’ve still missed him.

Yes, that’s right - even if their classmates did resort to murder, they weren’t the right people they had to blame. Everything up until now had happened because of Fujinomiya’s and Izumi’s meddling - if they hadn’t made them take part in this _stupid game_ , none of them would have done such a thing.

Even so, Fujinomiya seemed like she wholeheartedly disagreed with that.

“Regardless of your opinion on Yuki-chan, out of Mamo-chan and me I’m still the better choice,” she said it with such an irritatingly casual tone Hanamiya kind of had the urge to punch her himself - he thought he heard a crack coming from Chiba’s direction, the currently wheelchair-bound boy completely silent, his face isn’t visible with his head lowered.

Violence against the mastermind… it wasn’t forbidden, was it?

“I even left all those hints for you guys so you could find out Mamo-chan’s little secret,” Fujinomiya puffed her cheeks. “I admit I wasn’t expecting him to get killed because of it, but this is the first time he got found out, you know. I wouldn’t have known that would happen.”

“Izumi-kun doesn’t know about the resets, does he? Otherwise he’d have caught on to the fact that you were going to betray him sooner or later…” Hanamiya pursed his lips, Fujinomiya cheerfully nodding as a response.

“We agreed that everyone’s memories will get erased after each one, of course - it’d hardly be fair otherwise.”

“And yet you remember everything,” Hanamiya narrowed his eyes.

“Of course I do - it’d be a pain to have to watch the footage each time to be able to reset, silly. Plus if I want to find the most effective personality, that’ll take lots and lots of experimenting. A bit too much sometimes…” she let her expression shift into a faint scowl for a bit before she composed it again. “It’s okay, though. At least my character wasn’t nearly as sloppy as Mamo-chan’s.”

Completely disregarding her rambling, Hanamiya focused on getting as much out of her as possible for now - as annoying as she was, he could at least agree that he really wasn’t in the mood to mess around with questions right now.

“Why did you wait until the fifth trial to reset each time?”

“Didn’t you hear, Taka-chan?” she pouted at him, as though he’d forgotten about something he was supposed to remember. “You need a majority vote to reset. And since not even I’m allowed to kill more than 2 people, I had to wait for you all to either fail a trial or kill everyone until there were few enough left. It’s pretty annoying, but Mamo-chan is a pain to negotiate with.”

If nothing else, this pretty much confirmed that everyone else who had died so far should be fine with a reset - if they didn’t already know that before. That was a relief, if nothing else, but…

“Is there any way to leave with everyone alive?”

Tsutsui’s phone broke the short silence, her gaze fixated on the device, not even wanting to look at Fujinomiya right now - out of everyone here, she _was_ the one who got along with her the best, even if they weren’t extremely close, so Hanamiya couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for her. First Nakajima, then Fujinomiya - Tsutsui had horrible luck with making friends, didn’t she?

Fujinomiya made a low humming sound, seemingly struggling to recall the specifics.

“You have to let the program run for a complete course with everyone surviving,” she started, pausing for a moment. “I believe that should be around… 2 weeks?”

“That’s so long…!”

Minamoto sounded positively scandalized - and yeah, Hanamiya could agree with that.

“It’s not _that_ long, relax…” Fujinomiya waved her hand around, kind of irritated by the outburst. “And anyway, it’s better than letting your friends remain brain-dead, right? We both want the same thing, so why don’t we work together?”

Her lips stretched into a smile by the end yet again, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

Before anyone realised what was happening, Chiba had grabbed her by the collar, having wheeled himself up to her. While rather than lifting her up, it made her forcefully bend down, it didn’t make the situation seem comical in the slightest.

“Talking down to us like that… Do you have any idea how much shit you put everyone here through? You do, don’t you!?” his grip only tightened, Fujinomiya staring at him with a blank look in return. He only seemed to get even madder at the lack of a reaction, glaring straight into her eyes.

Hanamiya had no doubts he would’ve broken a limb or two of hers had he been able to use his legs.

“You’re the kind of person I hate the most…” Chiba hissed, letting go of her to punch her in the face instead, Fujinomiya stumbling backwards. A loud crack resounded throughout the room when she stepped on her already broken glasses by accident, blood dripping down the side of her chin from the corner of her mouth. She lifted a hand to touch where she just got hit before straightening up, looking much more intimidating than before despite her small, thin physique.

“Yuzu-chan… you really crossed a line there.”

Walking back up to him, she suddenly kicked him in the stomach, causing him to roll backwards as he doubled over in pain. Kageyama rushed over to check on him immediately while Minamoto’s mouth slightly fell open, Tsutsui finally raising her head with an expression full of grief.

She reached for her mask, slowly taking it off and letting the hand that held it hang limp by her side as tears began streaming down her cheeks one by one despite her wiping her eyes several times. She opened her mouth, lips trembling as she attempted to speak - although her voice was barely audible, only slightly above a whisper.

“Why…?”

“Why would you do something like this, Fujinomiya-san…?”

Hanamiya felt as though his mouth was moving on its own - like he wasn’t the one speaking, but rather, he’d reached the point where he wouldn’t be able to get past the situation by remaining emotionally distant at all. There was a heavy feeling in his chest, and he had to take a deep breath to at least maintain some composure.

Fujinomiya took a few steps back before she opened her arms wide, voice loud and clear.

“You’re asking me why - but I’ve already told you, haven’t I? People would do anything for fame, Taka-chan, and you of all people should know it’s impossible to obtain that without drastic measures!”

She let out a bitter laugh.

“I want to be acknowledged; I want everyone’s eyes on me, Taka-chan! I want to show them all what I can become, then betray the very people that betrayed me! You, the scum of society who would give up on your one life so easily - you should feel flattered that you’ll be of help to at least one person in your miserable lives!”

She suddenly dropped her arms, smile widening even more.

“I can even make an exception and erase my memories for the next round, if you want. You wouldn’t leave your precious friends behind, would you? We all want to do this over, so make yourselves useful and help me out here, darlings!”

Participating in a killing game like this… There was no doubt something like that would gather worldwide attention. Even so, they could never accept this…! They couldn’t just reset, right? Fujinomiya said it herself: this was the first time they got this far. They’d be throwing away the one chance they have at ending this cycle…

“We… we should just reset, shouldn’t we?” Minamoto’s shaking voice snapped him out of his trance, and Hanamiya turned his head slowly to give her an incredulous look. She took a step back. “I m-mean… she’s not wrong. Leaving by ourselves while we just let everyone else die… that’s just way too cruel.”

“I’m not redoing this again,” Chiba muttered, clutching his stomach from earlier. “I’m sure there’s another way…”

“Y-yeah, there must be…! We can’t just give up so easily, right?” Kageyama glanced around the room himself, Tsutsui turning her head away out of guilt. She must’ve agreed with Minamoto…

They had to find a way they could agree, _they had to_. Fujinomiya’s vote was sure to count, but if they could just convince everyone else…!

Hanamiya pressed his lips together into a thin line, ignoring his growing headache as he rapidly searched his brain for a solution. Something - _anything_ that they’d deemed insignificant before but could provide a solution right now…

As a thought arose in the back of his mind, he felt himself stiffen.

There _was_ another way.

If this was a game, perhaps they would only have limited options to choose from… but even if this world was virtual, even if they were bound by inescapable rules here, it wasn’t a game. And if their choices weren’t limited like that… not even Fujinomiya could stop them from picking a third option.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds as he thought his question over, then turned not to the newly revealed mastermind, but to the cat who had gone quiet soon after her introduction. Mononeko was separate from Fujinomiya, and he was part of the system himself - he was their best bet.

“Mononeko,” Hanamiya called out to the robot, adjusting his glasses. “If the current course finishes and we let the program shut down temporarily, what will happen to the ones who have died up until now? Will the reset work on them the same way if we try it after that?”

Fujinomiya turned her head to look at him sharply, her face completely blank.

“Of course it’s not going to work, Taka-chan, what are you talking about? Are you stupid? Is there something wrong with that ugly, round face of yours?”

Paying Fujinomiya no mind, Hanamiya felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of his neck. He would stake it all on Mononeko’s answer…

Said cat grinned before switching to a more comfortable position, lying on his side.

“That’s an interesting question, Hanamiya-nyan. I can’t say I know for sure, but as far as I’m aware… whether the program is shut down or not will have no effect whatsoever on how a reset functions.”

“W-wait just a second there…!” Fujinomiya took a step forward, glancing between the two with an uncharacteristic amount of nervousness, perhaps genuine for the first time. “You never told me about this, Mono…!”

Mononeko tilted his head.

“My job is to make the game more fun, after all, Mistress. Isn’t that what we agreed on?”

Fujinomiya opened and closed her mouth several times, Hanamiya almost collapsing after feeling so much relief course through his body.

They’ll be fine… For the first time during this killing game, he could say with full certainty that they’ll be fine. They were all going to be okay; they wouldn’t have to kill each other anymore…!

“You- you can’t just go back to your messed up lives like that…” Fujinomiya looked from one person to the next, their expressions unreadable. “And a-are you just going to let me off like that? You realise if you choose to finish the course I’ll also be set free, right?”

“Fujinomiya,” Hanamiya cut her off, feeling a smile of his own tug at the corners of his mouth, walking up to her to place his hands on her shoulders as she flinched, “you’re going to jail.”

Chiba finally sat properly in his chair, regaining his defiant aura from before, and Hanamiya could’ve sworn Minamoto let out a yelp when the shorter boy addressed her directly before she covered her mouth.

“Minamoto,” Chiba started, the girl glancing around before she finally made eye contact so he could talk to her properly. “We’re all in the same boat here, so I’m pretty sure I can run my mouth about this… but this is the best chance we’ll ever get. You want another chance to save Takahashi, don’t you?”

Something sparkled in Minamoto’s eyes before she quickly lifted her hand to wipe them with her sleeve, giving a small, shaky nod after that.

“Even if our other selves have given up, it doesn’t mean we have to. In fact, I’d be ashamed if I caved in so easily…” Chiba let himself put on a smirk, leaning back in his seat.

Even if their selves in the future had lost all hope, even if their selves in the future had chosen such a grim future… they weren’t the same people anymore. They weren’t the ones who had to go through all of that; they could still believe in hope. They could still change the future even if they’d already gotten messed up by the past.

“Minamoto-chan…” Tsutsui mouthed, going back to her phone afterwards to use that instead. “We’re all friends here, aren’t we? No matter how bad our lives were, as long as we stick together, we’ll be okay…”

It wasn’t that easy - _of course_ it wasn’t -, but right now they could believe that, and that much was enough. No matter how hard everything was going to be for them once all of this was over, no matter how many difficulties they’d have to face, this was still the best choice they could make - and they had to have the determination to be able to go through with it.

“It’s gonna be really bad, isn’t it, Hanamiya?” Kageyama let out a sigh next to him, as though reading his thoughts. Hanamiya nodded his head before turning to look at him properly.

“You know what, though? If we’ve been given a second chance, might as well take it,” he let out a small huff as he straightened his back, lifting one of his hands. Lighting up considerably, Kageyama immediately highfived him, and for a change, Hanamiya didn’t mind the slight ache lingering afterwards.

It seemed like Fujinomiya had stopped resisting, instead staring at everyone with a look so dejected Hanamiya would’ve felt sorry for her had he not known better. When she opened her mouth again, her voice came out distant, her eyes slowly unfocusing.

“You’re not going to rig the voting for me, are you, Mono?”

Instead of the expected response, however, Mononeko completely ignored her, clapping his paws instead.

“Since you’ve come to a conclusion, it’s time to vote, everyone, unless any of you have any objections!”

Fujinomiya let out a dry laugh.

“Of course you won’t, huh? I was an idiot to think that you would in the first place…”

She tilted her head backwards to look up at the ceiling, wiping the blood off her face from Chiba’s punch from earlier. Before she would walk up to her podium and seal her fate, she let quiet giggles shake her entire body, her voice coming out barely above a whisper.

“Ironic, isn’t it, mama?”

Once everyone had voted…

…the world gradually fell apart.

* * *

 

**Survivors: 6(?)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uploading the epilogue too in one sec


	29. Epilogue

“Does your neck still hurt…?”

“If the damn weather won’t kill me, my neck will.”

“I bet you forgot to put the ointment again, didn’t you, Hanamiya-chan?”

“That is a baseless accusation and I am offended.”

Hanamiya let out a small huff, pushing up his glasses for the hundredth time in an annoyed manner, spending practically every second cursing the broken frame. It seemed that while they wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while, with the island they were currently on having plenty of supplies, he’d have to wait longer to be able to buy a new pair of glasses.

At least it could be a lot worse…

Subtly touching a hand to the somewhat old but still sensitive rope burn on his neck, he quickly dropped it again.

“Are you guys sure we shouldn’t call for help…?”

Hanamiya only considered Minamoto’s question for a brief moment.

“Worst case scenario, they’ll stop the program from completing its run - I don’t wanna risk that. Besides, I think everyone’s injuries are old enough at this point to ignore them for now.”

“You’re so irresponsible, Hanamiya-kun…” Minamoto puffed her cheeks lightly; despite the nonchalant, possibly annoyed attitude she was putting on, though, Hanamiya knew she was just worried for everyone else - having to put on enough weight to turn from a skeleton into a relatively healthy human being was one thing, wounds that could get infected were another.

Still, they had been in that program for ages… If any of their injuries had been fatal, they would have died a long time ago.

“How’s Fujinomiya doing?” he switched topics instead, Kageyama taking the liberty of answering.

“Chiba’s keeping watch over her. She hasn’t said a word to anyone since, though.”

“Good. I don’t wanna hear any of it,” Minamoto averted her gaze. “I still can’t believe everything was Fujinomiya’s doing…”

“I kind of feel like an idiot for not noticing anything,” Kageyama sighed. “But I guess that makes all of us, pretty much.”

“I just wish I could call home, at least…” Tsutsui whispered out. She’d been practicing talking again with Minamoto, and while she was still very uncomfortable with the whole thing, it was a huge improvement over her complete muteness from before.

“Makes you wonder how your family’s been doing without you, huh… I wonder if mine even knew about it when I left,” Kageyama combed his fingers through his hair rigidly, expression turning sour. “This is just gonna get messier and messier…”

Kageyama raised his head at the small tap on his back, and Hanamiya tried his best to at least seem reassuring despite the huge amount of anxiety he’d been feeling himself.

“Worrying about it won’t solve a thing, so it would be better to focus on the present for now. You’re gonna have to work really hard to rebuild all the muscle you’ve lost, Kageyama-kun, so you can start with that” he gave his arm a small smack, Kageyama actually snickering at the end.

“Shut up, at least I had some to lose to begin with.”

Well, they’d been lying pretty much still for months and months now, so naturally it was going to take a while for them to even learn to walk again normally. Still, it did seem like someone had been taking care of them even while they were inside that program; the damage wasn’t nearly as bad as Hanamiya would have expected it to be. While the island appeared to be empty as of right now, he was sure the people that were working with Fujinomiya and Izumi up until now had something to do with it.

“Do you guys think the others will be okay…?” Minamoto tugged on her hair uncertainly. She’d been like this from the start - it seemed like once she got comfortable with everyone, she wasn’t ashamed of acting like a nervous wreck.

Hanamiya had to admit he found it kind of soothing to have someone worry more than him, especially out loud.

“They should be. We’ve done everything right so far.”

Minamoto almost _collapsed_ when Kageyama gave her a pat on the back.

“Ah- sorry,” he sheepishly apologised, the girl short of breath for a moment. Even with Kageyama’s lack of strength right now, it seemed like Minamoto had remained just as frail as before - if not a bit more.

She straightened her back with a small pout before giving up and just hunching forward in her seat again.

“…Thanks, though,” she mumbled, kind of trying to cover her face with her hair in embarrassment before Kageyama could attempt to ruffle the latter.

This kind of atmosphere… It felt so, so refreshing, even with all the nerves, especially after getting out of that virtual world. Hanamiya kind of wanted to just lie down in a field and stare at the sky for a while to take in the serene atmosphere.

No matter how much his stomach tightened with worry, they managed to pull through this together. He’d always been the kind of person to casually throw the word ‘friend’ around when people wanted him to, but right now… he really did feel like the word meant something for a change.

He’d gotten back his one life, so he should try his best to cherish it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good lord this fic was a wild ride  
> i tried my best with the ending, and i do think im actually satisfied with it for the most part, so i do hope you guys can appreciate it as well :0c i was a bit worried at first that itd end up too similar to sdr2, but hey, shit happens, im sticking to my Precious Plot because i feel like this kind of ending suits a fic like this the most  
> mmm now that the main story is over, though, i can finally get to the bonus content! if youve read this up until now, i am truly grateful, and i thank you from the bottom of my heart. i hope the story proved to be enjoyable for you  
> as for the post-epilogue content, im thinking of writing a collection of unused executions first and foremost (in a single chapter since those tend to be pretty short), then after that ill get right to the ftes :0 as for how long theyll take,, itll take me a while to edit all the sprites and all since im still missing expressions and whatnot, but ill get them all up sooner or later


	30. Unused executions

He’s really not sure where he is; the room is pitch black, and the walls feel cool and smooth to the touch. He wonders for a moment whether Mononeko is just trying to make him anxious to make this whole thing more entertaining when the walls are suddenly lifted, and he squints from the sudden light. He seems to be standing on what looks like a giant plate; once his eyes get used to the light, he walks towards the edge, peering over it. Unfortunately, he’s pretty sure he’s not likely to survive a 10m drop.

He almost loses his balance when the plate is lifted, and a giant shadow looms over him once it’s placed down once again. He turns around to see a giant Mononeko staring down at him, and his face scrunches up slightly in the mix of annoyance and confusion. When he sees Mononeko lift a knife and fork, he can’t help but go pale, taking a few steps back before he reaches the edge of the plate. The ground seems closer this time around, but before he can even attempt to jump, he slips on the plate underneath, wincing as he lands on his back.

The next moment something sharp pierces his torso, and he cries out, rendered immobile for a moment from the pain. He manages to lift his head with extreme difficulty to see that Mononeko had stabbed him with the fork, and every bit of movement hurts as he grabs onto it in an attempt to remove it. The knife comes down soon enough, though, and he screams as it begins to saw him in half.

Once his meal is cut up into small enough pieces, Mononeko’s dinner finally starts.

He can tell that he’s in some kind of a tank, but it’s small enough that he can barely stand without his head hitting the top. He places his hands on the glass impulsively, touching it all over before he starts banging on it. His hand hurts like hell, but a small crack appears, and he feels relief course through his veins.

He stiffens when he feels something cold touch his foot, then shivers when he realises it’s water. As he looks down, he can see the water level rise bit by bit, and it feels as though his heart stops for a second before panic takes over.

He begins banging on the glass again, praying with all his heart that he can break it, and the crack widens just a little each time. The water reaches his ankles, his knees, his thighs, his hips, and soon, his chest - and it’s not enough. Once it reaches his chin, he feels like he’s about to pass out, and he shuts his eyes tightly.

Once the tank is filled up completely, Mononeko drops it into the sea below.

She’s standing on a stage - as far as she can tell at least -, and there’s a microphone in front of her. Mononeko gestures for her to start singing, but all she does is scoff, lifting her glasses to send him a dark glare afterwards. The microphone disappears into the floor through a small hatch once Mononeko realises she’s not going to obey him, and the stage rearranges itself. It’s much smaller now, a doll suddenly falling from the ceiling, a rope tied around its neck stopping it from landing just before it hits the floor.

Giving it an unimpressed look, she silently reads the title card displayed far, far above: ‘ _Romeo and Juliet: Brand new edition!’_

A knife lands next to her feet, and she winces as the incredibly thin string tied around her hands and arms is lifted, forcing her to move. Mononeko makes her pick up the knife and her hands tremble as she tries to drop it anyway. Before Mononeko can force her to slit her wrists, though, she kicks the knife out of her hand, not even blinking at the throbbing pain in her fingers afterwards.

The knife clutters to the floor further away before it slips off the stage, and Mononeko stomps his feet in anger, pressing a button on the panel that controls the lights. A hole opens up underneath the girl’s feet, and she falls inside without a sound.

He’s strapped down on a conveyor belt, but he doesn’t even move - he already knows he won’t be able to get free, especially with as little strength as his. The conveyor belt finally begins to move, and he flinches when he hears the sound of something heavy slamming down behind him, although no matter how much he cranes his neck he can’t quite see it just yet.

As he gets closer and closer to the machine, he can finally make it out, and he feels the blood drain from his face as he curls his sweaty hands into trembling fists. The trash compactor slams down rhythmically, and although this time he does try to struggle, he can tell it’s no use, so he shuts his eyes instead, his heart beating louder and louder.

By the time he’s directly underneath the machine, he can barely hear anything from the deafening sound of the blood pumping in his ears, and his breaths are short and shallow, as though he can’t breathe properly. The last second feels like an eternity before the trash compactor slams down once again, blood splattering around the conveyor belt, the body - or what’s left of it - disappearing inside another machine.

A packaged, life-sized body pillow falls out from the other side, a familiar character printed onto it.

She’s standing in the middle of an empty field, the black sky above littered with billions of stars - the sight is serene enough for her to relax. A meteor shower seems to have begun; she stares with wide, sparkling eyes, standing on her tiptoes as if that could make her see better, but she flinches when something lands on the ground nearby, a trail of smoke arising afterwards.

At first glance, it just looks like a rock, but her ears don’t miss the quiet beeping sound, and she quickly turns on her heels to run further away just in time - the bomb explodes and she falls to her knees, but aside from a few scrapes here and there she seems to be okay. She gets to her feet only for another bomb to land right next to her, and this time she’s faster to react, rushing away. Her ears are ringing a bit, but the distance had been enough so far, or so it would seem.

Her knees buckle after a while, and she just about manages to roll out of the way of the next one, panting heavily. Once she gets up again, her legs are shaking, and she can barely stand still at first. Still, when the next bomb falls from the sky, she knows she has to move, so she tries her best to get away; this time, she’s blown away to end up on the ground on her side, hissing at the painful landing.

She pushes herself up, but she falls right over as soon as she tries to stand, and she can barely breathe. As the last bomb rolls up, all she does is stare.

He’s standing on some kind of stage that starts out completely empty, Mononeko watching him in the audience’s place. A casket emerges in the center of the stage, opening up to reveal the doll inside, and he shrinks back, taking a few steps towards the edge of the stage, only for the title card at the top to catch his eye: ‘ _Romeo and Juliet: Brand new edition!’_

A noose suddenly falls from the ceiling, and the boy almost stumbles as he finally reaches the edge, realising he can’t move further back. He swallows nervously, shifting his weight from one foot to another, trying his best not to look at the noose even when Mononeko moves it towards him. The cat, however, seemingly having had enough of this, claps his paws together, and the stage begins shrinking, forcing the boy to walk closer and closer to the center.

In the end, he has to climb atop the casket to prevent himself from falling off, and he flinches when the rope touches the back of his head, instinctively placing his arms and hands around his neck as though trying to defend it. When the casket starts slowly spinning, however, he can’t stop himself from extending his arms to the side in an attempt to regain his balance, and the rope finds its way around his neck.

He’s lifted off his feet, flailing and gasping for air, but the noose only tightens when he tries to untie it or just tug it off with his hands.

Soon enough, he stops struggling.

He’s strapped to a spinning dartboard - he recognises it without much difficulty -, and he seems to be in what looks like a gambling den of some kind. He attempts to struggle against his bonds, but it doesn’t look like he can get free without help.

He flinches when a knife lands right next to his neck, then lets out a sigh of relief once he realises it missed completely. His gaze settles on Mononeko, sitting cross-legged on top of a table with a bunch of knives set down next to him, holding one more already. He throws another, then another, and while his points pile up, each one misses by an inch - the boy doesn’t even wince after a point.

Having had enough of missing each time, Mononeko gets to his feet in an annoyed manner, flipping the table before he walks up to the dartboard, holding one last knife in his paw. He stops the board from spinning himself, driving the knife into the boy’s abdomen without hesitation, pulling it out afterwards. 50 points are added to the score, and Mononeko does it over and over, blood dripping to the floor - the boy’s nails dig into his palms as he holds back a scream.

Lifting the knife one last time, Mononeko finally leaves it in its place after the last stab, dusting his paws off in a satisfied manner. The boy’s body hangs limp.

She’s standing atop an extremely tall tower made of bricks, and she looks around curiously to see what else there is to look at. Bricks are lined up like dominos alongside the tower, but as much as she’d enjoy tipping them over, it doesn’t look like she can move, as she’s chained to the bricks on top by her ankles.

Mononeko, on the other hand, seems quite willing to do exactly what she’d been thinking about; he tips one of the bricks over, and one by one they each fall like dominos, some of them cracking in the process. As they become bigger and bigger in size, the process slows down considerably, and it doesn’t even seem like the last brick will be able to cause her tower to fall as it leisurely leans against it. Even so, she feels the ground moving underneath her as the smaller bricks holding the tower together start falling apart, and before she knows it, she’s dragged down herself.

The fall itself isn’t that painful - in fact, she’s pretty sure she hadn’t even broken anything, but before she realises it, she’s pelted by falling bricks from left and right, and she has to shield her head with her arms as she curls up into a ball in an attempt to defend herself at least.

This time, she winces at her newly received bruises, clutching one of her hands to her stomach with a contorted, pained expression, the skin turning a dark shade of purple. She tries to weakly stand, but soon notices a dark shadow looming over her, and she looks up just in time to see Mononeko standing atop some kind of machine. She has no time to make out what it is exactly before she has to cover her head again, going into a coughing fit when some kind of powder is poured over her.

Once Mononeko is finished filling up the ditch with cement, he begins pouring the water.

She’s standing on what appears to be a gigantic book; she can’t help but shake a little from nerves. She takes a deep breath to try to calm herself, then flinches when the page she’s on top of on begins to move.

She lands on the ground right next to the book with a dull thud after she slips and rolls off the paper, wincing and rubbing the newly formed bump on her head, then scoots backwards instinctively in fear when she sees the book rise. The pages straighten out, and she swallows nervously, just having enough time to dodge to the side as one of them shoots in her direction, being ripped from the book without much of a sound. As it grazer the side of her forearm, she bites her lip to stifle a small yelp, blood slowly gathering in the cut the page made to drip onto her sweater, then the floor.

She resumes running immediately, just barely managing to dodge to the side each time she sees a page coming, somehow still managing to breathe despite not being athletic at all. The book itself is quite thick, so it doesn’t look like it’ll run out of pages anytime soon, and all she can do is rush through what seems like a library in hopes of finding some cover between shelves.

The next time she comes to a halt, she doesn’t see the book anywhere, and she lets out a gigantic sigh as she leans on her knees to catch her breath. She freezes for a full second as she hears something move above, and she cranes her neck to see another book gradually being pushed out. Her knees are too weak for her to jump away instantly, so the book falls before she can even attempt to move out of the way.

The body stays standing, the razor sharp pages it had been impaled with keeping it still.

She’s standing in a much, much smaller courtroom, Mononeko examining her in a judge outfit. She straightens her back and meets his gaze defiantly, but that only makes the cat more annoyed; the loud noise echoes throughout the room when he brings the gavel down onto the sound block. An oversized, old-fashioned scale is lowered from the ceiling, and the noose that had been tied around the girl’s neck begins lifting, although not enough to hurt just yet. She tugs at the handcuffs she’s wearing in hopes that she can get her hands free at the very least, but it doesn’t seem like they’ll budge just from this much.

Mononeko places a feather into one of the bowls - although it’s not enough to cause the scale to tip just yet -, then, holding what looks like a tiny doll of the girl, he drops it into the other one. Producing one more doll, then another one, he all places them down one by one, and light as they are, the scale gradually begins to tip.

At first the girl isn’t even sure if it’ll be enough to lift her - once the rope is cutting into her skin, leaving her gasping for air, she finds herself unable to think clearly, standing on her tiptoes in an attempt to be able to breathe properly.

Her legs flail once she’s lifted into the air enough, and she can’t breathe, and drops of blood land on the floor from the way the handcuffs have been scratching up her wrists.

Mononeko doesn’t let the body down, however, not even when her movements still.

He’s lying on his back, but the fact that he can’t move is quite unnerving, and he has to take some deep breaths to calm himself down. He appears to be chained down by his wrists and ankles onto a metal table in some kind of operating room, Mononeko sitting cross-legged with an easel and canvas in front of him. The cat is holding a pen in one hand, and a controller in another, and the boy stiffens once he notices what it’s connected to.

The machine above him is holding onto a scalpel, and he pales when he notices his shirt and hoodie have been rolled up a little bit to expose his abdomen. No matter how much he struggles, though, he can’t get free, and all he can do is bite down on his lip until blood starts to flow, praying with all his might that he’s wrong about what’s about to happen.

As the scalpel descends, he doesn’t even have time to flinch as it touches his stomach, the pain unbearable as it begins cutting. Once it’s finished slicing a long line, Mononeko begins to draw, the boy writhing around as he screams. It’s feels so, so, so deep, he’s afraid to even look, the adrenaline being the only thing to keep him from passing out.

Mononeko only lifts his head from the canvas once he’s done with the picture, staring blankly at the bled out corpse for a few seconds before simply shrugging his shoulders.

She’s strapped into some kind of chair, unable to move her arms or legs - although her hands themselves seem to be free. There are 4 buttons on each armrest just in reach of her fingers, the ones on the left side blank, the ones on the right side painted with symbols: a square, a triangle, a circle and an X - although it doesn’t seem like pressing any of them is doing anything.

The curtains that have been in front of her up until now begin to lift, revealing a blank screen in front of her that turns on once the entirety of it is visible. It looks like the title card to some kind of game - the background is full of pink love hearts and the font is curvy and cutesy. The game automatically loads up a save and a pretty girl character with long blonde hair pops up, her arms folded behind her back as she sticks her chest out slightly, showing off her curves.

“ _Hey, won’t you walk me home? I’m kind of scared by myself…_ ”

The three options displayed on the screen are equally terrible, and she kind of cringes.

“ _Sorry, I’m busy with club practice._ ”

“ _You have legs, don’t you? Walk yourself home._ ”

“ _Scared? How old are you? (LOL)_ ”

After careful consideration, she ends up picking the third one, hoping that it carries a teasing tone with it - only for a shockwave to pass through her body. It only hurts for a brief moment, but it leaves an extremely uncomfortable tingling sensation behind, and she grits her teeth with a hiss.

She picks the first one next, only to be shocked a second time - except now it’s even stronger, and she almost thinks she blacked out for a second. She’s twitching slightly, and her head feels muddy, having difficulty even controlling her movements properly.

Her hand slips and she ends up pressing another button without her looking, and the world is cut off after the third shock, everything fading to black.

She’s lying on her back on a warm, soft surface, but she can’t tell what kind of room she’s in - all she knows is that it’s pitch black. When the lights turn on, she has to squint for a while, but she stiffens when she hears the sound of a sewing machine getting nearer.

She only realises the floor underneath her is fabric when she manages to sit up, but she’s pushed back down again by an oversized needle being stabbed through her stomach from the front, nailing her to the surface. _It hurts_ ; she lets out a pained shriek, but movement only makes it hurt more, and tears gather in her eyes as she reaches for the needle to try to pull it out with her trembling hands.

The whirring sound gets closer and closer, and she just about manages to pull the needle out when another one is stabbed through one of her thighs, and she chokes back a sob, crying even harder when her other leg is immobilized as well. When she finally spots the sewing machine, all she can do is shield her head as she shuts her eyes tightly, tears dripping down her cheeks as sobs shake her body.

Her screams echo throughout the room until her lungs are pierced, and it takes much, much too long for her to finally go still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, now to get down to the ftes  
> they will actually be very special so the next update will be an intro to them, then after that ill get down to the girls, then the guys  
> as for the order,, ill prolly go with something simple like alphabetical, i wouldnt wanna spoil things for other people just by the order of the ftes themselves


	31. The basics of a heart-throbbing school trip

The heart of the problem wasn't hard to figure out at all, if I had to be honest. I mean...  _I_ was the one who poured my heart and soul into figuring out the perfect scenario, wasn't I? And yet I'm  _still_ the one being bossed around...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

At least she isn't glaring at me like before... Not that I was scared or anything! I just feel like I should be getting more credit, you know? Because, really, I'm not the one who sat back and let her partner do all the work for her.

Somehow, that sounds wrong...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not here to scold you, Mamo-chan, so would you cut that out?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Cut what out...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That nervous attitude of yours... It's getting on my nerves.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm here to lecture you, but it's for your own good.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori** : You better pay attention, got it?

**Izumi Mamoru:** What do you even mean by that? Geez... You're always so mean...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not here to coddle you either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even so...!

She's never been particularly nice, has she?

If I didn't know any better, I'd probably avoid her as much as possible...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** My problem is with your character, dummy...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** The very core of your personality... it falls flat.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is acting out the part really all you can do? That's pretty pathetic.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Well... clearly, you don't know anything about popular culture!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** These kinds of characters are pretty popular, I'll have you know.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if something like this could pass in fiction, do you really think it's that easy to get everyone else to accept you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That... should be no big deal, right? I mean, I've always been popular...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** In the real world, your talent speaks for itself. In this world, however, you're a nobody.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, there's really no way you can get everybody to like you, so aiming for the survivors is the best course of action, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Somehow I have trouble believing that you're capable of that.

Hey!

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's not true! I can make everyone else like me if I try hard enough...!

She lets out an eerie giggle, as though amused by that statement.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Whatever helps you sleep at night...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'd let you embarrass yourself, but there are few things I can imagine that'd be more pitiful... so I'll lend a hand just this once.

Before I can protest, she shoves a tablet into my hands, placing her hands on her hips afterwards.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've compiled a list of things you should know about each student. I haven't included anything too private so you won't be bored out of your mind when they spill their hearts, but you should still try to memorize these.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can start with a girl. You've got a pretty face, if nothing else, so that should already be a start.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Pick whoever you want and see if you can get her to open up, Mamo-chan.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Fine, I'll pick someone for later...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Will you stop making fun of me once I prove I can do this?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No promises.

Of course not...

On the bright side, even if she's just lending a hand to humiliate me... I'll take whatever help I can get. It shouldn't be too hard if it's just a girl, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever... I'll make you regret looking down on me like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll be looking forward to it, Mamo-chan.

The nonchalant manner with which she turns her back on me would be kind of baffling if I wasn't already used to it - either she seemed to enjoy being dramatic, or she simply couldn't be bothered to stick around for conversations once she'd already achieved her goal. No matter how arrogant she'll act, though, I won't give in...! It's not like I have to specifically woo somebody, so... getting them to open up should be easy.

I take a deep breath before I start silently considering my options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cracks fingers* bear with me, im here to have fun  
> first up in the ftes is yuriko! i have literally no idea how long its gonna be since ive never tried to write one of these before so well just have to see ig


	32. The cyclist

**You have selected: Aragaki Yuriko**

I'm not even sure why I picked her at first - she just stood out the most at first glance, I guess.

Either way, there should be no reason for me to be nervous about this at all, yeah! I've spent plenty of time preparing myself, and if anything goes wrong, I can just start over... right? Right...

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

Even so, I'm not really sure how I should approach her for the first time. I guess just standing around and waiting for her to talk first should be good enough of a start...

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

Is she... glaring at me? Or am I just imagining things now?

No, she's definitely staring at me. It might just be her neutral expression, though...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  Is something the matter...?

If she's already noticed me, there's no point trying to pretend I don't wanna talk to her...

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You wouldn't happen to be another hostile mortal, would you?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I warn you, if you try anything funny, I will not hesitate to call upon my powers and blast you into smithereens...!

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Huh?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, that was a joke, right? That stuff about 'powers' and all...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It'd be nice if you could give me your name, though.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

That sure is an awful lot of silence.

It's not like I don't already know her name, but it'd be pretty weird if I started calling her by that before her telling me.

From what I managed to gather about her... it seems like she's one of the more eccentric ones here. She likes... stuff about demons and ghosts, I think?

I've never been happier that I never had a phase like that.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Remember my name well, human, for I shall only let you hear it from my mouth once.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I am the fallen angel, Aragaki Yuriko... however, my powers are in no way limited to what you might think they are.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** To put it in simple terms for a simple mind like yours to grasp... I am what you humans would call a 'cyclist', but I am also quite skilled in the art of photography.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Now that I have shared all of that with you, I expect you to divulge your name and title as well, and whether you are a friend or foe.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's easy enough, Aragaki-san.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** My name... It's Izumi Mamoru. As for my talent...

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

I pause briefly. Making up a fake talent wouldn't be nearly as dramatic as having it be unknown, so I want to stick to the original plan - and for that, I need her to believe me when I say I can't remember it. She does seem kind of gullible, though, at first glance, so that may not be too much of a problem...

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's strange... I can't remember. I'm sure I have one, but...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wonder if it's a side-effect of whatever drug they used to knock us out and bring us here...

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I suppose asking you about how you think we ended up here is no use as well, if you cannot recall even that much...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Well, no matter. I shall not deem you a threat for now, but I expect you to notify me as soon as you remember your set of skills.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Sure thing, Aragaki-san...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Still, I wouldn't have guessed your talent just from the way you look...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You said you're a cyclist, yeah? Why did you pick up something like that?

**Aragaki Yuriko: ...**

Is she sulking because of what I said...? And if so, which part was the bad bit...?

She clears her throat as she composes her expression.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I have been merely fulfulling my duties of protecting my village is all.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** It is necessary for someone like me to keep patrolling the area in case any spirits get out of line, and it just so happened that your two-wheeled human transportation tool proved to be rather convenient for that task.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, I see! That makes sense!

It really doesn't.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What about photography, then?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** ...Seeing as how humans are rather foolish creatures, they require evidence even from a powerful being such as I.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do you take pictures of ghosts, then!?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...That's what I just said...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I-in any case, that is about everything I wish to share about the subject!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** A fallen angel cannot share her secrets with mere mortals of your kind...!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh... Of course you'd say that.

**Izumi Mamoru:** But since you like ghosts, Aragaki-san... Does that mean you like horror stuff too?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

**Aragaki Yuriko:** W-well, yes, obviously...! There's no way I would be scared of such a thing, nope, not at all!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Don't look at me like that!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ehh...? I was just looking normally, though...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Liar! I know how you humans operate!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You were trying to get me to let my guard down, weren't you?

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Unfortunately such basic tactics won't work on me, h-haha... ha...

Despite the confident air she attempts to put on, however, her voice still has the same edge of embarrassment to it.

Ah, that's right... She's the kind of person who watches horror movies despite being pretty much terrified of them. I wonder if that would classify as a masochist...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** We shall part ways now so I may investigate the rest of this curious location in peace.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Farewell!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san!?

As she bolts in the opposite direction, I raise a brow at her high heels and wonder how she hasn't tripped over herself yet before I simply shrug it off, more occupied with much more important matters.

For a first impression, that wasn't too bad... I should talk to her some other time to see if I can get her to loosen up more. She does seem oddly self-conscious for a chuuni.

See, Fujinomiya? I'm already getting somewhere. As long as I continue on like this, everything should be a piece of cake.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

In hindsight, I should've known this was going to take a while.

I've talked to her several times one-on-one after our first meeting, and while she did get more comfortable pretty fast, she still didn't seem inclined to share anything private.

I guess I might've been expecting too much from her.

It's not like I have a time limit, though! I should be fine...! Or at least that's what I want to tell myself as I head towards her yet again, hoping this time will prove to be different.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Afternoon, Aragaki-san.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** You seem strangely insistent on seeking my company, human.

She noticed, huh...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I mean, we're friends, right? That's normal.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...Do not say such ridiculous things. The highest status a human like you can achieve is that of a subject.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I hold no sympathy towards your kind.

It's no surprise that someone like her wouldn't have any friends, really.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Have I been bothering you all this time...?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I... do not wish to be friends with any of your people.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Don't be mistaken; you're not special at all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Doesn't it get kind of lonely without anyone, though?

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Of course it doesn't...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Mortals of your kind are cruel beings. Even if someone has done no wrong, they won't hesitate to cause them pain and suffering.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Even if they didn't even notice that person before, they won't show mercy.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** If the person ignores it, it just gets worse until they can't take it anymore.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Humans truly are the worst.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san... Aren't you being way too pessimistic here?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I am merely stating the truth.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, that's not it...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I know something big must've happened to you to make you think that way, but that won't make it true.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or are you saying I'm like that too?

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Are you saying you're not?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Of course I'm not...!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Evidence is required for me to believe that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do you want me to prove it to you, then? I can do that, if that's what you want.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Why are you being so stubborn anyway? Proving yourself will only grant you worthless satisfaction.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Or is it a question of pride?

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's... not it either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I just want to be friends with you is all...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** If I grant you the title, will that satisfy you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, that's not what I meant...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I want you to think of me as a friend, Aragaki-san... I'm not looking for something superficial like that.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Hmph... How foolish.

As much as she huffs about it, though, I know she doesn't mean it.

I guess that was a step in the right direction, at least... Although I was hoping she'd share a bit more. I guess I'll just have to keep pushing until she does.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No it's not! Friendship is supposed to be precious and important...!

**Aragaki Yuriko:** How about this, then?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I'll permit you to remain in my presence. I will give you a chance.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** But that is all I'll do. Do not expect me to be lenient.

That's better than nothing, I guess.

Although I really want to throw a tantrum to get a better result... But I guess that'd be breaking character.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Good enough for now...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't think I'll stop trying so easily, though.

I already know the ideal place to catch you at the next time... nyahaha...

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

When I peek inside the room, there's no mistaking it: Aragaki is inside. Even with the dim lighting, it's pretty hard to mistake someone else for her with such a unique appearance, so I don't hesitate to enter.

She drops the DVD case she's been staring at all this time with a screech.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I- I wasn't going to watch this or anything...!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I was just researching your  _human culture_ , yes!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Don't you say a single word!

**Izumi Mamoru:** I see you're as energetic as always, Aragaki-san.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But why come to the cinema if you're not going to watch something?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** L-like I said, it's for research!

I glance down at the DVD she dropped, and pick it up before she can object; it seems to be an animated movie of some kind.

The title would probably look familiar if I was into western cartoons... I can't recall the last time I actually watched one though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** So you're into these kinds of things, huh...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've tried to get into them before, but it's a bit hard to find series I like.

I'm more of an anime person.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Y-you should listen to me when I tell you I don't know...!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** But... if you really want a recommendation...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I  _heard_ there's a series about crystal-like magical girls who fight to protect the Earth. It's supposed to be really good.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** B-but I only heard that, okay!? I never said I watched it or anything!

Magical girls, huh? I'd check it out just for that, to be honest... But it'll have to wait until I have the time; I should stay focused on my task for now.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I see! I think I might enjoy something like that.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You... do?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I like those kinds of shows, yes!

That's not even a lie.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Wait, I need to test something.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** What are some shows that you  _do_ like?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm... Well...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I like magical girl shows the most, I guess. But I like all superpowered stuff in general.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Superhero anime have been really popular lately, haven't they?

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Y-yeah, they have...! I don't watch a lot of them but they got super popular after-

**Aragaki Yuriko:** A-ahh, I mean-

**Izumi Mamoru:** Some people say they're too childish, but I still really enjoy them. They're just that much fun, you know?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm...? What's wrong, Aragaki-san?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...Don't think you're suddenly special just because you like the same things I do.

Ahh, she finally admitted to it. Victory feels wonderful.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You better keep everything about this a secret, or our deal is off...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** And I shall strike you with my demonic powers...!

She really should decide between an angel and a demon though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Understood, Aragaki-san.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Still, I would've thought these kind of interests would make you more popular...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or it'd make a certain kind of crowd more likely to approach you, I guess.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Not like I'd want that anyway...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Of course you'd say that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Aside from these kinds of things, do you have any other hobbies?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...Not really, no...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I'm not that good at sports aside from cycling either.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Not that I'm interested either.

I guess she already has plenty of things to do with her current interests.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...What about you? Not that I'm curious or anything; it's for research.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Research on humanity?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Yeah, that's right...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Mhm, well... aside from what I've told you, I don't have that much.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, but parkour seems kind of interesting...! I haven't gotten to try it out yet though.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...Not interested...

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...What?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You only said that because I like it, didn't you?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Even if I was concerned with such things, I wouldn't bother with something like that...!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Sports aren't that much fun, you know!

Even if I didn't know that, I would've been able to figure it out easily just from her lack of passion for her talent.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Are you sure? Are you absolutely, completely sure?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Geez, as if you're one to question me...!

She places her hands on her hips as she lets out a small huff, turning on her heel.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san...?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** We shall continue this talk some other time. I have certain matters to tend to at the moment.

She's probably just going off by herself to sulk or something.

Whelp.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

I've been waiting to catch her by herself again, and it seems like now is finally the time... Geez, that sure took a while. I was tempted to knock down her door if she didn't come out by herself.

As soon as she pokes her head outside, I put on a cheerful expression as I wave to her.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san!

She seems to puff her cheeks before she responds.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** What?

**Izumi Mamoru:** You're not still upset about last time, are you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't think I said anything too bad...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** If anything, I'm annoyed by you being so persistent.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's mean!

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Hah! I suggest you find a better way to insult me, human.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...If I cook you a meal, will that cheer you up?

**Aragaki Yuriko:** A... meal?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** D-don't be ridiculous, simple food made by humans will not help you earn my favor.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** It won't help you at all, got it?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ehh...? Is that supposed to be a challenge?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If so, I'll take it. I'll cook you a meal so delicious it'll make you change your mind completely, Aragaki-san!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What's your favourite dish?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Me...? I... I like spicy things, I guess...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** B-but I never said I agree to this!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So... does that mean you don't want me to cook you something after all?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yep, that's what I thought!

I grab her hand before she can protest and drag her over to the cafeteria, then into the kitchen. She seems pretty reluctant at first, but it's clear that the possibility of getting to eat something delicious is much too tempting for her. In the end, she begrudgingly takes a seat as I get to preparing everything, muttering something under her breath.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is something the matter?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...It's weird.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What is...?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...You... You're weird.

 ****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Me...? How am I weird?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Because... you keep prying and stuff...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You should stop that... It's making me feel weird.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Is it making you want to confide in me more?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** N-no, of course not!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, it'd be fine if you did want to.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if you don't consider me a friend, it's fine for you to rely on me whenever you want.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...Even if you say that...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You haven't proven yourself yet. Not at all.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** This is ridiculous.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I know it might've sounded like I didn't mean that all that seriously, but...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If there's something on your mind you can share it.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** No, it's not that easy.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Humans cannot be trusted... I know that.

And yet she sounds uncertain.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san, what made you think that way in the first place...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I can only guess that you were bullied back in your old school, but...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:**...

She seems grumpier than before, somehow, but that might just be her own awkward way of expressing her discomfort about the subject.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...So be it. Maybe if I tell you the tale of how I fell from heaven's grace, it will be the end of this all.

As silly as the dramatic tone make it sounds, she does seem more serious than before.

As fate would have it, however, I just about finish the dish right after she says that, and she leans back in her seat with her arms crossed.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I'd like you to meet me tomorrow in my room at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Be warned, however, that if you try anything funny, I shall obliterate you without hesitation.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I... wouldn't do something like that.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Good. That is my final word on the matter for today.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Now... I wish to dine.

I wouldn't refuse her at this point, of course.

I serve her the food, trying my best to be patient for the next day.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

 I admit, I was just a  _tiny_ bit worried about her going back on her word and all - but seeing the open door, I push all these thoughts into the back of my mind. I can't let my mind wander anywhere at such an important time, when the smallest slip-up could resort in a mistake I can't fix.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aragaki-san...?

I was expecting her to at least be sitting on her bed or something, but she seems to have been pacing up and down until now, letting out a small yelp when she spots me. An embarrassed cough is all she needs to compose herself - at least on the outside.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I have been waiting for you, mortal. Do take a seat.

Seeing as how my only option that's not the bed or the floor is a chair, I go ahead and do as she suggests before she can derail the conversation by scolding me... or something.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Okay, I'm...

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I want you to take this seriously, okay?

Even though she'd done it many times before - more and more frequently as time passed -, the way she switches back to her natural way of speaking is just a little too jarring this time. Maybe it's because of her nervous attitude...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, of course... I was hoping you'd be serious about it.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I'm... very serious, yes.

At least she can keep her hands still.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I've told you I'm from a village before...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I had to move to the city, though... But even if it weren't for Hope's Peak, I would've had to go to a high school somewhere around there.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** There was, uh... an incident at my previous school. I guess you could call it that...

**Izumi Mamoru:** An... incident? Like what?

She lets out a sigh, not really sure where to start.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Uhm... There was this group of really nasty kids in my class.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I'm gonna skip all the whining, and just...

She cuts herself off as she bites her lip before continuing.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I had a pet hamster at home that I happened to bring to class one day.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Did... D-did they hurt it...?

She glances off to the side for a moment, resuming with such bluntness that my momentarily speechlessness is no act.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I only left for a few minutes, but by the time I came back...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** They'd drowned him in the sink.

The air is heavy, and I don't miss the way she tenses up - it does seem like she has incredible self control in important situations, though, because I'm pretty sure she's holding back from punching a wall.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I was  _this_ close to snapping their necks with my own two hands, you know?

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I know violence isn't something to be proud of... but I just couldn't hold myself back.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** A pretty huge fight broke out, and... being up against multiple boys isn't exactly an advantage.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I managed somehow, though... just barely.

**Aragaki Yuriko:** I really wish it had been resolved right then and there, but... obviously, we all got into pretty big trouble.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** The kids, I really didn't care about. They just got what was coming to them.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** My mom, though...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I... kinda mouthed off to the principal.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** My mom was begging on her knees for them no to expel me.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** I bet I would've been expelled from a city school without a single question.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Even though I'd caused so much trouble for my mom... I just couldn't regret any of it...

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Humans are all terrible... The only reason I'm like this is because I have a human body.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** If I hadn't fallen... I wouldn't have caused my mom so much pain.

****

**Aragaki Yuriko:** Your cooking from yesterday... It was delicious.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** But even so, I can't let you be my friend.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** You're going to do something cruel and horrible sooner or later, be it because a demon possessed you, or because your very soul got corrupted.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** Even if you're not like that right now, it's inevitable.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** It's like fate, in a way.

She doesn't sound like she wants me to argue with her, and... I have no real reason not to just leave now.

I've gotten her to open up, haven't I? She's told me a secret - even if it's not her biggest one, it should be good enough for Fujinomiya. Even knowing that, though...

This doesn't feel like a victory. I want to hold my ground.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...I certainly understand you better now, Aragaki-san...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But you telling me this story didn't make me want to give up at all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If anything, I want to try harder.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Painful memories like that... They're not the only ones you have, are they?

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...

Just a little more...

I can do this; I have faith.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if it'll be hard to get you to open up to me even more...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if it takes forever for you to actually call me a friend...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If I gave up because of something like that, I'd have to be pretty weak-willed.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're... aready a friend of mine, whether you like it or not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So... no matter how long it takes, I'll keep trying over and over.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'll promise you that.

She averts her gaze, but she doesn't sound all that sure of herself.

 **Aragaki Yuriko:** As if I could believe you so easily...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Right now, you can't... I understand that.

**Izumi Mamoru:** But I'll keep that promise nevertheless.

**Aragaki Yuriko:**...I'll make you swallow a thousand needles if you're lying.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm prepared for that.

She seems kind of hesitant, but...

She holds out her pinky finger, staring off to the side shyly.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Aragaki's Undergarments**

****

They're stylish and comfortable: perfect for leisure bicycle ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excuse me for the inconsistent sprite sizes jesus christ resizing on ao3 is a pain *bites the site in half*  
> i literally just noticed that i can resize the pics with actual numbers too and not just  
> attempting to accurately drag my cursor  
> so ill prolly get to that for the next character hnn i just wish id known this ahead of time  
> edit: added the underwear upon request bc it wouldnt be danganronpa without underwear thievery


	33. The vocalist

**Or rather, the actress**

**You have selected: Fujinomiya Kotori**

I already know what anyone else would say to a decision like this, but to prove myself to her, I should go to Fujinomiya herself! How impressive would it be if I could turn the bet against her?

Still, I wonder how I should go up to her about this... I can't introduce myself anymore, can I?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** ...What are you spacing out for like that?

Uh oh; I got noticed.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Just thinking about stuff, I guess.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Very specific...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Shouldn't you be talking to one of the girls by now? I won't help you if you waste your time yourself, Mamo-chan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Eehh... And what if I told you I'm not wasting time right now?

Her expression goes blank for a moment before she starts to laugh.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Wow, somehow...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I didn't think you could amuse me even more, but we seem to have exceeded that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you doing this on purpose? Because you're not making much sense.

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's a perfectly reasonable choice, I'll have you know.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that so?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes!

**Izumi Mamoru:** But I didn't pick you just because of the game, Fujinomiya-san.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm genuinely curious, so I want to give this a shot for real.

Well, half of that is true, at least. She's never even told me anything personal, even though we're partners! I can't help being curious like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How about it? You don't have much to lose, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe, that's right.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I really would like to humor you, but...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** As fun as this sounds, I'm afraid I'm pretty busy. Even if we don't hold a killing game for the first round, I have to go over everything very carefully.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Someone has to do a double check on things.

**Izumi Mamoru:** What, you don't think my motives are good enough?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've already revised them enough times...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Those aren't the only things I'm checking, you dolt.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even regardless of your... plot, I need to know if the program is working fine.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Everyone's memories before high school should stay intact, and we didn't add too much, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I just wanna make sure we won't be dealing with mental patients soon, if you know what I mean.

It'd be pretty lame if the software messed people up like that, geez...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You can check that later too, you know.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're just acting like this because you don't like being the one who's ordered around.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can't deny that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But who's the more stubborn one here I wonder?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Fine, I'll play along while it's still fun for me. The check will have to wait for now.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Tell me, then, Mamo-chan...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What will you try to make me open up to you?

That's... a really good question, actually.

I probably shouldn't tell her that I haven't thought about it much, though. I don't know her too well, so all I can do right now is try things one-by-one... I guess.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Say, Fujinomiya-san...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What kind of things do you like?

If I can ask her straight out, I will.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Me?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I like birdwatching, for starters.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aside from that, I enjoy pop music and musicals in general.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Karaoke is alright, but nothing special.

She listed off all those things, huh... It's good enough for now, although I'm not really sure where we should go here. I remember each room we have here, of course - it'd be much too lazy not to have it all memorized -, but picking the ideal area might be a bit hard...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How about we go to the theather then...?

That's pretty much the first room anyone would think of with someone like this around... I know that. But regardless of that, it's still the most logical choice, and trying can't hurt... probably.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** The theater, huh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You ended up picking that even after getting all those answers... You're so predictable.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess it's fine by me, though. The place is peaceful enough.

Somehow this doesn't feel satisfying at all.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Let's just go then...

I admit, the theater is quite close to my heart as well - someone with a similar talent would surely feel the same way, right?

Once we actually arrive, I feel my composure gradually even out until I'm completely calm again. I should be used to it by now - or I would be, if I'd spent more time in this room in particular. I haven't gotten much of an opportunity to walk around here yet, unfortunately... but on the bright side, the theater still feels like a new and exciting place as a result of that. I can't say I mind that too much.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, this place is nice after all...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? Are you talking about the weapons again?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Those are cool too, but... there's just something about this place that's special, I guess.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You get it, right?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**  I should've expected that kind of childish excitement from you...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But like I said, the place is nice. That's about it though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But you must feel  _some_ kind of attachment...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You know, assuming that everyone thinks the way you do is just setting you up for a disaster.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Something that I feel attached to... There's no way it'd be something so generic.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But I guess you wouldn't know that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Either way, you'll have to wait to find out.

She giggles once again as she brushes her hair out of her eyes.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

It's easier to find her the second time: she's sitting around in the theater once more, combing her fingers through her hair. She still manages to notice me before I can say hi, though, and she waves her hand in a nonchalant manner without even sparing me a glance.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you came again, Mamo-chan...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You don't sound too cheerful about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What's there to be cheerful about? Nothing amusing has happened yet.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I admit I'm waiting for that, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So? What are you going to entertain me with today?

I'm glad she's not taking this seriously at all, as annoying as it is, but... even if she's willing to compromise like that, it won't mean anything if I can't get through to her.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you always so mean anyway?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** At first I just thought you were in a bad mood, but you're always like that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Does it bother you? I'm just being honest, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** When something annoys me, I'll say it straight out. I don't see the point in sugarcoating everything in this kind of situation.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then again, it's not like you can tell when I'm lying or not, can you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Perhaps you wouldn't even notice if I were to tell a lie. You're not smart with people at all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hey...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why don't we test that right now? Let's play a game to see if you can figure out what I'm lying about.

**Izumi Mamoru:** A game...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll say three statements, and one of them will be a lie.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have to figure out which one is false. Simple, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh...

**Izumi Mamoru:** That sounds like fun! I'm in!

How hard can it be, really...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright, let's see...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** One: I dislike wearing revealing clothes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Two: I've been into acting since I was a child.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And... three: I have never been touched by a man in a sexually inappropriate manner.

The second one is obviously true, but... I'm not really sure about the other two. It  _is_ just like her to drop things like this so casually all the time though... She's probably going to make fun of me if I get this wrong.

**Izumi Mamoru:** The lie is... the first one...?

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oho? Are you sure?

I know she's just doing this to make me doubt myself, but... no, I'm not sure at all!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mamo-chan? I don't have all day.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Y-yeah, I'm sure.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe, you stuttered.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Just tell me if I got it right...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehh? I never said I'd tell you. I just said you'd have to figure it out.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah...!

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's cheating...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** All's fair in love and war.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** As for which one of those two this is... I'll leave that to your imagination.

And I got so worked up about this too...!

I should've known she wasn't going to be straightforward with me...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like you were sure about the answer anyway. You just guessed, didn't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's written all over your face.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can't read the average person, Mamo-chan, let alone someone like me.

I  _hate_ that I can't argue with that!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if that's true... I bet you can't read me either! Hmph...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that a challenge, then?

Suddenly she looks a lot more serious than before.

Still, I don't think I've told her all that much yet, so... I should be able to do this!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Sure...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Go on, then. I'm listening.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Okay, well...

On second thought... I guess she'd know plenty about me just by looking up my information.

Ahhh, I guess I'll have to go with things that haven't been made public...

**Izumi Mamoru:** One: I'm afraid of heights.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Two... I've never had a girlfriend.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Three... I've never had to have any major surgery.

I  _thought_ I did pretty well, but Fujinomiya snaps her fingers as soon as I'm done, speaking without hesitation.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** The lie is the third one.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You... You cheated, didn't you? I was pretty sure I wasn't obvious at all...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You really think I'd bother to cheat for something like this?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're better at lying than most people, but you're still not quite there.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It'll probably work with strangers, but... I still think it'd be better if only your talent was unknown.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll lose your cool and slip up sooner or later.

**Izumi Mamoru:** H-hmph... Lecturing me like that...

No, I can't let her sway me. I have to be special,  _I have to_... If nobody pays attention to me, I won't be able to do anything during the final trial... And we'll have to start everything all over...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Take this as a lesson and get to improving your persona.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You may be a super high school level actor... but you won't get anywhere without the mind of a writer.

Easy for her to say...

It doesn't look like she'll stop teasing me about it anytime soon, so I guess I should drop the topic for now.

I'll have to do some more research about this later...

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

Honestly, I've been wondering about something...

Why did Fujinomiya choose a moe blob persona like that anyway? She doesn't seem like the type who'd be interested in that sort of thing - is what I thought before, but it doesn't seem like she's just experimenting.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why are you staring so much  _now_?

As usual, she picks up on it immediately, speaking up once she's annoyed enough about it.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I was, uhm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I was thinking about you? I guess.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Disgusting.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's not what I meant, geez...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I meant you as in your persona...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How come you get to lecture me about mine, but you end up with such a boring one?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you end up too flat, the villain reveal won't be much fun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehh...? I didn't think I'd get you whining to me about  _that_...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Honestly... I'm kind of lazy right now. Do I really have to go into this...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You'll never get anywhere with that kind of work ethic!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Tch... It's kind of annoying when you do that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm just trying to perfect this as much as possible...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Isn't that what you want? Creating the perfect story?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Things like this take time; there's no point rushing into everything so fast.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Fujinomiya-san...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you  _really_ going to complain to me until I explain every tiny detail to you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ugh, such a pain...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then again, you complaining might be an even bigger pain in the end.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Fine, whatever...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Listen, when it comes to creating an interesting character... there are multiple ways you can go about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have to make the audience  _want_ to pay attention to that character, first and foremost, so it's good to take popular tropes as a basis.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll also want to add traits that make them unique, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Make sure the backstory makes sense with the personality and isn't too boring - if you take a relatable theme and apply it to the character, the audience will come to like them sooner as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I just took the easiest personality to make sure everything goes smoothly.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's all the basics. Figure the rest out by yourself.

**Izumi Mamoru:** What do you mean by the easiest personality, though? Wouldn't it be easier to find a trope that's closer to your personality?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, but this is close enough.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But... you're not shy.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** A miraculous performance is an everyday phenomenon when you have enough willpower.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Now, the only question is...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Was I lying just now? Or was I telling the truth?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You still can't tell, can you?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Not this again...!

Normally I'd assume that she'd have no reason to lie - but she seems to really enjoy making fun of me in this regard.

Even if we're working together... it's kind of annoying. Fujinomiya is really smart and helpful, but... why does she have to be so mean...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I admit I don't like making up backstories though. It's a pain to have to remember every detail.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just remove everything from yours that you don't wanna tell people and use that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I really don't wanna have to restart just because you made such a small mistake...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even though I'm clearly the more hardworking one out of us...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't have to go into that much detail about it anyway. People like theorizing; leaving things vague makes them interesting.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh... You actually said something smart for once.

I really want to pinch her cheeks until they're bright red.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Fujinomiya-san!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But yeah, are we clear?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There's no reason to go overboard with these things. They're this simple.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Are they really...?

Even if I can't take it for granted, I guess I should at least think everything she said over...

I  _think_ I get her a little better now... maybe.

It's her backstory, so to speak, that's the biggest mystery... She  _really_ seems to like waving secrets in my direction only to not end up explaining anything.

All I know is what she's willing to share with the participants... which isn't that much. I know for a fact that she's hiding a lot of stuff, I just need to know what to look for...

Come to think it... Why is she so secretive in the first place? I get being embarrassed, but this is a whole new level. I wonder if she's a criminal of some kind...

I want to figure out why she can't trust me of all people, at least.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

The next meeting place is different - it's the concert hall this time. Fujinomiya was the one to suggest it, although I'm not really sure why. Maybe she just wants a change of scenery.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Do you play any instruments...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's not why I wanted to come here, but I guess that's a decent question.

She's holding a sheet of music - or what looks like one at least. I can't read sheet music so I'm really not sure what it's for if she's not going to play...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've been thinking... I'm good at singing, but it's not really anything extraordinary.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can get away with that for now, but I'll have to get better if I don't want people doubting my talent in the future.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why don't you just go mute then? Like Tsutsui-san...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** This is exactly why you'll never be a writer.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** One mute character is already more than enough.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I guess...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So... what, you're going to practice?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nah. I've tinkered with the software to see if that can help.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll be the audience.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Now, shush.

She clears her throat, and I begrudgingly go silent. I'm also kind of curious if something like this can work...

She begins to sing, and I can immediately hear the difference, even though I've only heard her sing once before. It's... breathtaking, if I have to be honest. I wasn't expecting this much improvement...

Once she's finished, she seems pleased.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Judging by your expression, I can only guess that this has been an overwhelming success.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not surprised. I've always been good at singing; it'd have been a shame if the software hadn't been able to improve this much.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? Aren't you going to say something already?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or has my voice stunned you?

**Izumi Mamoru:** No, I've just been thinking...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're so unwilling to talk about anything personal, but you go ahead and share certain things anyway.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're so weird...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe... But everything like that is common knowledge, you know.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's pretty easy to obtain it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Could it be? Do you want the secrets that haven't been recorded anywhere?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Bad child... Don't you know what happens when you open Pandora's box?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'd have thought you'd at least tell me... since we're partners and all...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Partners, huh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you can stab me in the back?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm good, thank you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've no reason to do that anyway...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've nothing to gain from double crossing you... We both want the killing game to succeed, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You said you want it to be engaging... And you said you wanted to be the villain.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I want to be the protagonist, so our goals align.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Splendid reasoning...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like I was being serious before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or was I? Ehe...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Geez...! I'm being serious here but you keep joking around like that!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** This! Is! Not! Fair!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Weeeh, weeeh, all I hear is a little child throwing a fit.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Does it bother you this much to have someone yanking you around?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would a kiss make you feel better?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's all you filthy boys think about, right? Women's bodies and affection?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Not that I'd ever kiss you. You have a pretty face, but that's about it.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Where did a rant like that come from...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** B-but anyway, that's not it!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I just want to understand you better... for the sake of the game as well.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I think if we can truly sympathize with each other, we'll be able to create a better killing game.

Although I'm just talking out of my ass.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What a boring reason...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we should leave it at that for today. I'm tired.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't make me repeat myself.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll let you hang around me as long as it's fun... That was our deal.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I won't let you break it.

Figures...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...Fine...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'll go find you again later.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright.

I can't believe she's acting so petty...

Still, it doesn't look like I have a choice, so I'll go along with this for now...

Maybe I should try a more forceful approach next... I bet she won't expect that.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

A single knock is all it takes to get Fujinomiya to open the door, and as tempted as I am to just push past her and enter anyway, I ask first just to be polite.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Can I come in?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** ...

She looks... annoyed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** ...Whatever. Just don't mess the room up.

I let the door close behind me after I step inside.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So? What do you want?

  
**Izumi Mamoru:** What do I _want_...? I said I'd go look for you later, right?

She lets out a sigh.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Here? Ugh, such a pain...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not my fault if you're locked up in here all day long...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe I'm doing that because I'm busy.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You do this every single time I'm in the middle of something.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't you have anything better to do?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're the one who's always complaining...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** At least I've reasons to complain.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmph...  
**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Besides, this isn't as much fun as I thought it'd be...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No offense, I guess...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, teasing you is fun, of course, but...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Don't you like hanging out with me...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nah.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So fast...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't tell me you're going to cry from that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Still, I don't get why you have to be like that when I'm being nice...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's a scary world out there, Mamo-chan. This is what being an adult is like.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** As if you'd know that...

She opens her mouth to respond, but I'm feeling even more worked up than before, and... I can't resist being a little more dramatic.

Before I realise it, I've grabbed her by the shoulders - I can't tell if she's pressed up against the wall because of me or of her own accord.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Tell me what I'm doing wrong, then...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You already said I can't read you, so... so...

My voice trails off when I see her standing completely still, expression somehow unreadable.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Grabbing me like that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You've quite the nerve.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Fujinomiya...san...?

It takes me much too long to realise what she's holding.

The sudden, sharp pain causes me to instinctively stumble back, blood dripping down my side and soaking my clothes as I end up on the floor, staring up at Fujinomiya incredulously as she pockets the knife she'd just pulled on me.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've had it with this round.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I was pretty curious about it at first, but now I see that it's just a waste of time.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** _Of course_ someone as repulsive as you would resort to something like this... I saw that coming from a mile away.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I bet if you were locked up together with some fragile  _bitch_ you wouldn't hesitate to touch her all over.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I know what you boys do...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You lie your way through life until you end up between a girl's legs.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Touch me with your  _filthy_ hands like that again and I'll break them right then and there.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Although I guess there's no point explaining that now if you'll just forget it anyway later...

The wound is pretty deep - the increasing dizziness doesn't really help much with trying to examine it, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You... You w-won't just leave me here, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Leave you? Ah, that's right... W̕e̸'͠re ̕in ̛my̷ ̡room̛,̸ ͠ar̴en͞'t̡ we?̛

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's no good... I can͢'t h͝a̷v͢e͠ ͢e̛v͏e͘ryone finding y͏o͞u͢r body̸ ͏he̴re.͏

 **Izumi Mamoru:** My body...!?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Tell me, Mamo-chan...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Wha͢t͢ ͞ki͘n̶d̵ of d̶ea̢th do̷es a ͢cr̶įmi͟n̴al͠ ̨l͡i͜k̛e̵ ̷yo̸u d̕es̵e̕rv̧e?̛

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** P͟i̧̕͞c͞k͢.͟͝͝.͏͜.͟ ̶̶y͞o̴u̵̶r̨̧͢.̷͝.̵̶͢.̢ ͢͏p̧͟͝o̴i̶͢s̢͜o͢n.̧̡.͘.

**Event 5: Cleared...?**

**Item acquired: Fujinomiya's Undergarments**

****

They're simple, yet elegant. It seems she put quite a lot of thought into picking out the colors.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a very special fte for a very special child  
> next up on the list is,, momoko, im p sure


	34. The volleyball player

**You have selected: Hayama Momoko**

I ended up picking her in the end... I guess she just looks easy to get along with... kinda? I know she has a bit of a temper if you get on her bad side, but it should be fine as long as I'm careful.

All I have to do is go ip to her and introduce myself for now - this should be a piece of cake.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm, excuse me-

**Hayama Momoko:** You again? Geez, how many times do I have to tell you to-

She freezes for a moment once she fully turns around.

**Hayama Momoko:** Ah, I'm sorry! I thought you were someone else!

 **Hayama Momoko:** Gosh, this is embarrassing...

**Izumi Mamoru:** A-ahaha...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Should I know what you're talking about...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** No, not at all. Don't worry about it.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I'm sorry.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Your name is...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** O-oh, yes, that...

**Izumi Mamoru:** My name is Izumi Mamoru. I'm afraid I don't recall my talent, but I do hope we can get along.

**Hayama Momoko:** You don't remember your talent...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** It would seem so...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Did you hit your head by any chance? Is there anything else you forgot about?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Admittedly... there are certain things about my home that I'm not that sure about.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But it doesn't seem like I'm injured; it should be fine.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I hope so...

**Hayama Momoko:** Ah, I'm Hayama Momoko, by the way. I'm a volleyball player.

**Hayama Momoko:** I know your first impression of me might not be that good after a start like that...

 **Hayama Momoko:** B-but feel free to ask me for help with anything, alright?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's alright, I understand.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You sure are dependable, Hayama-san.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You think so?

 **Hayama Momoko:** I do try my best... ehehe...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I had something else to ask you too, but... I guess you probably don't remember how we got here either if you've forgotten so much already.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You're right... I must apologise.

 **Hayama Momoko:** It's not like you can help it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even so... I'll be sure to tell you if I manage to figure something out.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Thank you, Izumi-kun.

**Izumi Mamoru:** By the way, what do you think of everyone else?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Out of the ones you've talked to, that is...

I'm just curious, really...

Even with Fujinomiya's notes, Hayama is a bit... weird. It's almost like she switches between tomboy and goody-two-shoes just to annoy me... But that's not it, right?

I swear...

**Hayama Momoko:** Me?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Mhm, well...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Akiyama-kun seems somewhat brash, but... it does seem like he means well after all.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Chiba-kun and Nakajima-kun are both pretty rude though. Minamoto-chan as well...

**Hayama Momoko:** I'll need to have a talk with them each...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is that so...?

**Hayama Momoko:** Is something wrong?

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** No, it's nothing... You just kind of sound like a teacher.

Or... like an annoying mom.

I'm sure a girl wouldn't appreciate being called that though...

**Hayama Momoko:** In a bad or good way?

 **Hayama Momoko:** But either way, most of the others seem to be really nice.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I hope that won't change in the future.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Are you worried about the situation?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I think that's understandable...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But there's no reason to be so pessimistic just yet.

**Hayama Momoko:** ...Yes, you're right!

 **Hayama Momoko:** I'm sorry for that little slip-up there.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's okay...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Let's just forget about it!

 **Hayama Momoko:** About your talent... Did walking around on the ship help at all?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Even if you don't remember, did you see anything that felt familiar or something?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well... the shop was kind of nice...

 **Hayama Momoko:** You're not some kind of shop assistant, are you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That'd be a pretty lame talent...

**Hayama Momoko:** Maybe you can stock shelves really fast.

**Hayama Momoko:** Jokes aside, spending time in certain locations might help you remember something. Just a thought...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe...

 **Hayama Momoko:** We can check the upper floors too later if you want.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I wanna map the place in my head anyway, and I bet it'd be pretty boring to walk around by yourself.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, well... if you insist that much...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I do insist.

 **Hayama Momoko:** In fact, let's finish looking around on the first floor right away.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I still haven't been to a room or two... Busy talking to people and whatnot.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I haven't done much talking yet...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Mmm...? You should introduce yourself to everyone else too then.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I want us all to get along until we can figure out what's going on.

 **Hayama Momoko:** A good first impression will most likely help with that.

****

**Hayama Momoko:** Do you need me to walk you around so you can talk to everyone?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That won't be necessary...

She's being as nosy as I thought she would be... It's not the worst thing ever, but it _is_ a tad annoying...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'll do that right now, then, and we can look around afterwards.

 **Hayama Momoko:** That's the spirit!

She looks cheerful enough...

In any case, for a first meeting, this should be good enough. I better go and see the others to make sure everything is okay now...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

 

The next time I find her, she's in the gym by herself - I would've figured she'd invite someone else, but I guess she didn't...

On one hand, I'm incredibly glad I don't have to push some moron out of the way... but on the other hand, I have no idea if she'd want to be disturbed.

She's not doing... that much, is she? Yeah, it shouldn't be a big deal...!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hayama-san-

Before I can even finish the greeting, I'm spotted, and she rushes outside, leaving her training interrupted.

**Hayama Momoko:** Izumi-kun! Are you free right now?

She's... really sweaty...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Right now...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not terribly occupied...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Do you wanna train together then? It's more fun with more people!

Of course that's what she wants...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Unfortunately I'm not very athletic...

Well, I'm decent - I'm just really not in the mood for this. There's no point in keeping your avatar fit anyway...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Then you have even more of a reason!

 **Hayama Momoko:** Keeping fit is very important, Izumi-kun.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm aware...

**Hayama Momoko:** Please? Just for a little?

 **Hayama Momoko:** You're the only person I can ask...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

She clasps her hands together, and I let out a sigh.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What happened to Akiyama-kun? Didn't you two get along?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Natsume-kun took him for a checkup earlier.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Aragaki-chan and Kageyama-kun have been together all morning, so I can't ask them...

 **Hayama Momoko:** And Takahashi-kun is busy in the concert hall.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What about Chiba-kun...?

**Hayama Momoko:** I... don't think he likes me. We got into a fight earlier as well.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, that's unfortunate...

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Izumi-kun, do you think I'm bossy...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe a little...?

****

**Hayama Momoko:** That kind of hurts, you know...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Chiba-kun scolded me about that earlier. He told me to mind my own business...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ahh... I wondet if it's been annoying everyone all this time...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, I get how it could rub people the wrong way...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ehehe...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm kind of jealous, though... I can't really do that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm really bad at being straightforward like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I do try, though...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's just hard to figure out whether something I'm going to say will hurt someone's feelings or not.

**Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I see... So there are people like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like what...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Never mind that...

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I think it might be better for me to follow your example there... partially.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Yeah, that sounds good.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You cheered up fast, huh...

**Hayama Momoko:** There's no point in letting these things get to you if you can just fix them, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You really are reliable, Hayama-san...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Where did that come from?

 **Hayama Momoko:** I just feel like I need to try my best is all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wish I was like that...

 **Hayama Momoko:** It's not that hard.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I doubt I have the drive for it. I'm pretty easily discouraged.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Do you want me to help you with that, then?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ah- Sorry if I sound pushy or anything...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** N-no, it's okay, I don't mind.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You don't?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes!

 **Hayama Momoko:** I see... I'm glad.

**Hayama Momoko:** We can start with making you more fit!

**Izumi Mamoru:** E-eehh!?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Exercise is a great form of self-discipline, I'm sure it would benefit you greatly.

**Hayama Momoko:** Plus... I still have nobody else to ask for this...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You should just make up with Chiba-kun already...

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  ...You won't give up on this, will you?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Please...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...Fiiiiine...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Just for a little while... But please go easy on me.

It's not like I'm particularly muscular, so I doubt she'll get suspicious... although this is still kind of a pain. I'll be sure to whine to Fujinomiya later.

 **Hayama Momoko:** No guarantees.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course not...

I follow her inside regretfully, already impatient until I'm free.

She's so weird... It doesn't seem like she's easy to make mad, but I've already seen her angry once... Maybe Akiyama has a special effect on her or something - or maybe he was just acting like an unbearable twat, hell if I know...

Regardless of that, it doesn't seem like she will open up easily about anything truly private... She seems like she can handle everything pretty well by herself.

I guess... setting something up might work.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

 

I spent a pretty long time thinking about this, so it should be fine... most likely. I just had to let Tsutsui do the work for me by excitedly chattering to everyone about all the pretty dresses they had in the clothes store.

Hayama... likes girly things, right? Surely she'd try to take a closer look sometime...

As I peer around the corner, I can't help but cackle inwardly at my genius plan. She'd already gone inside, so all I have to do is catch her in a dress and get her flustered - should be easy enough.

When I finally open the door... everything is just as I hoped it would be. She's standing in the middle of the room, wearing a frilly, pink dress, and she flinches before bolting off to hide behind a shelf as soon as I enter.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Would knocking be too hard!?

**Izumi Mamoru:** We're... in a public place...

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I know that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hayama-san...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** You didn't see anything, right...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I saw everything, actually...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ngh-!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm... Are you alright?

She sticks her head over slightly so she can narrow her eyes at me.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Don't tell anyone about this, okay?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I- S-sure, but why?

 **Hayama Momoko:** What do you mean why...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I mean... Is this supposed to be strange for girls or something...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...Not really...

 **Hayama Momoko:** But I'm not very girly, am I?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is that bad?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Isn't it... weird? For someone like me to put something like that on...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it...? I don't know, I never really thought about that before...

She lets out a dry laugh.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Is that so...

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I'm just not very used to these things...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You mean dresses...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** That too, but...!

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...I don't know...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I've never really tried make up either...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Is it because you don't know how?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure if you asked one of the girls they'd be more than willing to explain it.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...It's not that I don't know...

 **Hayama Momoko:** My parents don't like it when I dress like a girl, so I just don't really get the opportunity to...

**Izumi Mamoru:** But... you are a girl...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I- I know that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** What...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Your parents aren't here right now, right?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Yeah, it's just... embarrassing, I guess...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I don't see what's there to be embarrassed about.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I won't laugh at you because of this, you know.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** There's no need to keep hiding like that.

In the end, she steps outside reluctantly - in her jacket this time. She seems to have put it on in a rather hurried manner.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, and you totally got my hopes up too...

**Hayama Momoko:** My hair's a mess... It wouldn't work like this.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I can fix that for you.

**Hayama Momoko:** Are you good at that sort of thing?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm alright. I do my sister's hair for her a lot.

 **Hayama Momoko:** A sister, huh...

 **Hayama Momoko:** You never told me you had one.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it important?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Not really. I just think it's nice... Having a sibling, that is.

**Hayama Momoko:** Not that I have any.

Good riddance... You're definitely the preaching older sister type.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You might get one sometime in the future.

 **Hayama Momoko:** If only...

 **Hayama Momoko:** A daughter wouldn't be bad either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're a minor, though...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Is there something wrong with daydreaming about the future, _Izumi-kun_?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not really, I suppose...

 **Hayama Momoko:** If only it could come sooner...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I wonder when I can move out...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Are your parents really scary when they get angry or something?

**Hayama Momoko:** Huh? Not really, no.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Then why is it so important to adhere to their expectations so much?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you want to leave that badly...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Isn't that normal...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Parents are... parents. You're supposed to do what they tell you to.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Isn't that kind of too much?

**Hayama Momoko:** Is Izumi-kun the rebellious type, by any chance?

 **Hayama Momoko:** You don't look the part.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** N-no, that's not it!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh... you're so weird...

**Hayama Momoko:** _I'm_ the weird one?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yes, you are!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** We're going to Tsutsui-san right now so she can dress you up properly.

**Hayama Momoko:** Ah- there's no need for that...!

 **Hayama Momoko:** I can do everything on my own!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, we're going. You're not getting out of this one, Hayama-san...

**Hayama Momoko:** Geez...

I proceed to drag her to the first floor despite all her objections, only to be locked out by Tsutsui when the girl actually has to change.

I am a guy... I guess...

I admit it might be a tiny disappointing though.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

 

 

The next time we meet is much more casual - we just run into each other by actual coicidence for a change. Not that I was startled at all...! I'm already used to being pranked by Fujinomiya...

**Hayama Momoko:** You scream like a girl.

**Izumi Mamoru:** N-no I don't!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're the one who ran into me anyway...!

 **Hayama Momoko:** Accusing me like that... you sure are bold, Izumi-kun.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How was yesterday with Tsutsui-san?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ah-?

 **Hayama Momoko:** It was fun...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm glad.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You don't have to sulk so much...

**Hayama Momoko:** But yes, it was really enjoyable. Tsutsui-chan is a sweetheart.

 **Hayama Momoko:** So... thanks.

**Izumi Mamoru:** For what?

 **Hayama Momoko:** For dragging me over there, dummy.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not a dummy...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're welcome, I guess.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** She might've approached you on her own anyway though...

**Hayama Momoko:** We don't know that, do we?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Say, Izumi-kun...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Would you like to go hang out somewhere for a bit?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Where? In the clothes store again?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Nope.

 **Hayama Momoko:** But it's a very special place.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You already know a secret, so I figured I might as well tell you another one.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So... where are we going, then?

I have a pretty good idea, to be honest...

**Hayama Momoko:** Follow me.

Even though she said that, she grabs me by the wrist, walking ahead already - exactly in the direction I thought she would lead me.

It doesn't take long for us to arrive since we were already kind of close, and when she stops in front of the planetarium, she finally lets go of my hand to reach for the door.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Let's go.

I enter after her and let the door close behind me, the dim lighting kind of relaxing already.

I can't say I hate the place - it's nothing special, but it's definitely peaceful enough for me. It would be even better if Hayama was prettier, but hey, you can't have everything.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You like stars, Hayama-san?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Yeah.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I really like this place...

 **Hayama Momoko:** It's not the real sky, but it calms me down somehow.

**Izumi Mamoru:** The atmosphere _is_ rather serene...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Right?

She actually goes ahead and lies down - might as well follow her example... or something. It's not the most comfortable position but it manages to make me feel sleepy regardless.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I really, really wanted to study astronomy, actually...

**Hayama Momoko:** But I'm not smart enough for it at all.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I can't really read that well either... All the letters get jumbled up in my head and it's really hard to follow everything.

 **Hayama Momoko:** So I settled for second best...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Must be nice to be good at so many things...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Weren't you listening when I said I wasn't smart enough for it?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure that's just you underestimating yourself... It's hard to enjoy something you're terrible at, right?

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...Maybe...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe you could get someone to help with your studies.

 **Hayama Momoko:** And who would that be?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty good at studying.

**Hayama Momoko:** Is that your talent? The Super High School Level Honor Student?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That would be kind of... boring.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Maybe a little.

**Hayama Momoko:** I don't know if you can help me improve my memory though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You shouldn't just give up like that...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Mhm...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I really wish this wasn't so difficult...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You said so yourself before, though, didn't you? That self-discipline is important...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I think this is included in that.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Maybe...

**Izumi Mamoru:** When we get out of here, I'll help you study, okay?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Aren't you worried I'll end up disappointing you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hayama-san...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Alright, alright, I'll stop.

**Hayama Momoko:** Thank you.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I'm really grateful for the offer.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So you'll accept it, then?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Well, giving it a shot can't hurt.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Okay then.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Do you think, uhm...

**Hayama Momoko:** Do you think you could come to my room tomorrow?

**Izumi Mamoru:** What's this all of a sudden?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Ah, it's nothing weird...!

 **Hayama Momoko:** Tsutsui-chan promised to give me a makeover, and... I kinda want to show it off, I guess...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh...

 **Hayama Momoko:** I-it's not that big of a deal, really-!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Sure, I can do that much.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Thanks...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't mention it.

Tomorrow, huh?

I feel like this much should be more than enough to brag to Fujinomiya, but... part of me really is curious. It can't hurt to go check it out, right...?

Besides, something tells me I might have more to show if I just wait a little longer...

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

 

 

I wait with my hands clasped behind my back, balancing on my heels. It's not that I'm impatient, really - I promise I could not care less -, I just don't reallyblike having to stand in one place for so long is all.

When the lock on the door finally clicks and the door creaks open ever so slightly, I can't help but flinch, having spaced out in the silence up until now. As the girl pokes her head outside, she seems incredibly embarrassed.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Hi...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

She opens the door just a little more.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You can come inside if you want...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** A-ah, okay.

She takes a few steps back to let me inside, and my breath would have probably caught in my throat had I not been used to seeing incredibly dolled up girls every day.

Still, it's a rather impressive improvement. I guess Tsutsui has a pretty good grasp on these things.

**Hayama Momoko:** W-well...?

**Tsutsui Rena:** I've already told you you look gorgeous, Hayama-chan.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I- I know that, geez... I'd just like a second opinion...

Her hair seems to have been fixed this time as well... I approve.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You look breathtaking, Hayama-san.

**Hayama Momoko:** Ah-!

She covers her face in embarrassment.

 **Hayama Momoko:** P-please don't say it like that...!

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Wonderful.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Tsutsui-chan!

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You want me to leave you two to yourselves, right?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Don't worry, I can do that.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Do have fun!

 **Hayama Momoko:** Wait, no, that's not what I meant...!

But the girl has run off already, and Hayama lets out a sigh.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Seriously...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** That was rather peculiar.

**Hayama Momoko:** You tell me.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You really do look pretty, though.

**Hayama Momoko:** Geez...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You should dress like this more often.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, a more casual outfit would be better for a regular day, but... you know what I mean.

 **Hayama Momoko:** S-should I? Wouldn't it be weird for everyone else?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure they would feel the same.

**Hayama Momoko:** ...My parents are still an issue, though...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like they'll yell at you, right?

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't think there's any harm in trying.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Yeah, you're right...

**Hayama Momoko:** I'll just have to grow a pair.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why are your parents so insistent on the tomboy image anyway?

**Hayama Momoko:** Huh?

 **Hayama Momoko:** All I know about that is that they both really wanted a boy.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I guess this is as close as it's going to get.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But... that's not really something that you want, is it?

 **Hayama Momoko:** I mean, I'm already a tomboy, so...

**Izumi Mamoru:** But you still like some feminine things.

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...

**Hayama Momoko:** I just don't want to disappoint them, y'know?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But you're so strict with yourself...

And everyone else too, in a way...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's okay to have high-expectations, but I really think you should try to find a balance.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Just try to get your feelings across to your parents, and I'm sure they'll understand.

**Hayama Momoko:** So optimistic...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's better than not trying at all, right? What's the worst that could happen?

 **Hayama Momoko:** ...I don't know...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I promise I'll have your back no matter what, at the very least.

 **Hayama Momoko:** You're putting a lot of pressure on me...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Maybe we can talk about it once I get back home.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Please don't get your hopes up too much.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's too late for that now.

 **Hayama Momoko:** Dummy...

 **Hayama Momoko:** Why are you so stubborn about this anyway?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I just can't leave a lady be, I guess.

 **Hayama Momoko:** _That's_ your reason?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it a bad one?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Mhm, not really.

 **Hayama Momoko:** I guess I was just hoping for a bit more.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like what...?

**Hayama Momoko:** Who knows, mm?

Oh, dear... I feel like I know exactly what this is. But there's no need to be swayed by such a thing, right-?

I've seen tons and tons of girls who had crushes on me - it's not like this is anything new... Besides, even Fujinomiya is much, much prettier.

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

But... then again, romance plotlines aren't rare in action movies, right? And Fujinomiya will be revealed in the end anyway...

...

What if...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...Hayama-san, could I tell you something?

I've already got the perfect setup anyway - remembering certain details in a predicament like this won't be half as suspicious. And I'm sure Fujinomiya won't mind a tiny, tiny change to the plot one way or another.

**Hayama Momoko:** Yeah...?

 **Hayama Momoko:** Why so serious all of a sudden?

Time to put Plan B into action...

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Hayama's Undergarments**

****

The pink polka dots and ribbon on the pastel base make for an especially cute design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fhhjkfds formatting these is a pain but im alive  
> yui is up next!


	35. The architect

**You have selected: Komatsu Yui**

She should be easy enough, right? She'd been pretty open about everything from what I can tell. She can be pretty cryptic, but it shouldn't be that big of a deal...

Rather, the hard part is getting her to be attached to you. From what I can see, she doesn't seem to mind hanging around anybody, but you need to pique her interest to actually get her chasing after you. Time to try my best, I guess...

Even knowing that, though, I did take a bit of a gamble with the personality...

**Komatsu Yui:** Oho! Yui-tan has spotted a stranger!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Good morning!

**Komatsu Yui:** Or would it be noon since stranger-tan is walking on 2 legs?

 **Komatsu Yui:** What's the appropriate greeting for noon anyway? Good noon?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Good afternoon means it's after noon, right?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Good day, maybe...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...Are you done yet?

 **Komatsu Yui:** It seems like stranger-tan ate the wrong apple today!

**Izumi Mamoru:** I have a name too, you know.

 **Komatsu Yui:** But Yui-tan doesn't know that! Yui-tan hasn't mastered the art of reading minds yet.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're supposed to ask people their names before going on a tangent...

 **Komatsu Yui:** But... isn't stranger-tan also doing that right now?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Izumi Mamoru.

**Komatsu Yui:** So, what kind of special powers does Izumi-tan have?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Ehh... Does Izumi-tan want Yui-tan to solve a riddle for him?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, it's nothing like that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm just not in the mood to talk.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Secretive, huh...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Can Izumi-tan guess Yui-tan's name, I wonder?

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's Yui-san, isn't it?

**Komatsu Yui:** E-eeh!?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You've been saying it all this time.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oh no... How could this be...?

**Komatsu Yui:** Kidding! Yui-tan meant her last name, silly!

**Izumi Mamoru:** How am I supposed to guess something like that?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan wonders about that too.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever, Yui-san it is.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What's your talent?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan wants to know Izumi-tan's first!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Fine, I'll just ask someone else.

**Komatsu Yui:** Ah- No fair!

She grabs onto my arm, holding me in place with surprising strength from a girl.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan reeeaally wants to know!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Could you please let go of me?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Hmph...!

She lets go so suddenly, I stumble on my feet, ending up on the foor - she seems pleased with herself.

**Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan has fallen into the lava, so now he can't move.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What are you even talking about...?

I stand up with a sigh, dusting my clothes off.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Look, if you're just going to mess with me-

**Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan isn't messing with anyone!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan just wants to play with everyone...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is a meanie!

 **Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe Yui-tan should guess his powers...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever... Go ahead.

Her eyes light up as she taps her chin.

**Komatsu Yui:** Mmm... Maybe Izumi-tan is a spirit!

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's not even a talent!

 **Komatsu Yui:** So close!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not even a little!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Spirit medium?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Definitely not.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Exorcist?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are all of them related to spirits?

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's a joke!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're not even taking this seriously!

**Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan should cheer up... bwee...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe Yui-tan can make an exception just this once...

 **Komatsu Yui:** See, Izumi-tan, Yui-tan is an architect.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Does Izumi-tan not believe Yui-tan?

**Komatsu Yui:** That makes Yui-tan sad...

**Izumi Mamoru:** A talent like that doesn't suit a weirdo like you...

**Komatsu Yui:** How rude!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do you make blueprints or something?

 **Komatsu Yui:**...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Well, Yui-tan prefers sketching first and foremost...

**Komatsu Yui:** She really loves landscapes!

 **Komatsu Yui:** But people want to build Yui-tan's sketches sometimes, so she has to draw the plans.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...I guess that's impressive...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Right? Right?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan usually draws places she sees in her dreams.

Of course you do...

Fujinomiya's actually told me about this, but even if she hadn't, it's really not that hard to tell that something's off with this chick. She just has this weird aura around her... and she really likes constantly bouncing around for some reason.

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's a lot of fun!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Everyone gives her lots of compliments too!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I see...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Can Izumi-tan tell Yui-tan his secret now that she's told him hers?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not a chance.

**Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like it's anything extraordinary...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan doesn't care! She wants to know!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you so stubborn...?

**Komatsu Yui:** Because, Izumi-tan... knowledge is power.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oooh, could it be? Is this a riddle in another riddle?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe Izumi-tan is just testing Yui-tan right now...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not doing anything like that...!

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's okay, Izumi-tan, Yui-tan gets it.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She won't give any hints to anyone else.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She'll be the first to solve Izumi-tan's riddle, so please wait for her, okay?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Wh-

Before I can say anything else, she turns on her heels, sprinting off into the distance. Whether it's to theorize or what, I've no idea, but I honestly don't care enough to even think about it too much.

Whatever, this was good enough for now. I was a little worried, admittedly, how she'd take this kind of attitude, but it looks like I'll be just fine...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

I've been walking around for a while now, and while I wasn't exactly hoping for it this time, I had a feeling I'd run into Komatsu again.

Now, standing in front of the arcade and staring at her attempting to figure the games out, I'm not sure if I'm annoyed or pleased. It does look a tad funny...

When she spots me, I stand still for a fraction of a second before I turn to walk away, and she rushes outside immediately.

**Komatsu Yui:** Did Izumi-tan come to play with Yui-tan?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I was just passing by, Yui-san. It's a coincidence.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Ohh...

 **Komatsu Yui:** So does Izumi-tan want to play now?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not really.

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's okay, it'll be fun!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I doubt that somehow...

**Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan needs help to figure these things out anyway...

 **Komatsu Yui:** She's never been to a place like this before.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You've never been to an arcade...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan's home didn't have any.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Are you from the countryside or something?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Mmm...

She tilts her head slightly.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan is from an island. Is that from the countryside?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** An island, huh...

She does give off that kind of vibe.

**Komatsu Yui:** The first time Yui-tan left home was when she was invited to the special school.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She got lost a lot of times on the way, though. Everything was so big and tall!

 **Komatsu Yui:** But now, even when Yui-tan is back to the sea, there are so many strange things around her...

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's very, very strange...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Didn't your parents come with you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't tell me you got sent here by yourself...

**Komatsu Yui:** Parents? Yui-tan doesn't have any.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan lives in a really, really big house with kids of all ages!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So... an orphanage?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Correct!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Well, there aren't that many of them... But they're still Yui-tan's friends.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Did they just send you away by yourself then?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oh, Miss Principal offered to come with Yui-tan, but Yui-tan told her she would be fine because she's old enough.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's pretty irresponsible...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Is it?

**Izumi Mamoru:** You're still a kid, aren't you? And a really weird one at that...

 **Komatsu Yui:** But Yui-tan managed to get to the school in the end.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** And end up here...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan doesn't mind that.

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's like a wonderland, and Yui-tan is the dreaming lady!

 **Komatsu Yui:** There are lots of things Yui-tan still doesn't know about, and it's fun to figure them out.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You should be trying to find a way out instead...

**Komatsu Yui:** Is Izumi-tan in a hurry?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Is school for Izumi-tan fun? Is that why he wants to get back soon?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Don't you go to school?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan does, yes, but...

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's kind of boring.

**Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan likes learning by herself... It's a lot more fun.

 **Komatsu Yui:** The teachers are always tired and they speak really slowly.

 **Komatsu Yui:** It puts Yui-tan to sleep...

 **Komatsu Yui:** They scold Yui-tan for snacking in class too...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, yeah, you're not supposed to eat in class.

 **Komatsu Yui:** But why?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why...? Because... it's distracting...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Why? Isn't it more distracting if Yui-tan is hungry?

**Komatsu Yui:** When Yui-tan is hungry, her tummy gets all rumbly.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She can't focus on anything like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's why you're supposed to eat during breaks.

 **Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan really doesn't like to play, does he?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is such a child...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why am I the child!?

**Komatsu Yui:** Oh, yeah... That might not fit.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is just an old man, then.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm your age...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan has the soul of a thousand-year-old medium inside of him.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That again?

**Komatsu Yui:** It's okay, Izumi-tan. Yui-tan just has to exorcise the spirit.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You don't mean my soul, do you?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan is just joking, it's alright.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Or is she?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Either way, the weird one here is you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't get why you're so hyper about everything, but it's kind of tiring to listen to...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Please tone it down.

**Komatsu Yui:** It's not like Yui-tan is that loud...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, it's your tone. It's grating.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan doesn't get it...

As she moves around, her bell jingles as usual, and I can't hold a comment back on it - but I guess it's fine.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why do you wear that bell anyway?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Bell...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That earring...

**Komatsu Yui:** Oh, the lucky charm!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan doesn't know much about it either.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Miss Principal told Yui-tan to wear it so they could find her if she got lost.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What are you, a housecat?

I can kind of see that, though.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oho? Maybe Yui-tan was a cat in her previous life.

 **Komatsu Yui:** If you pour hot water on her she might change back.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No thanks...

**Komatsu Yui:** Now that Izumi-tan mentions it, though, it is a little strange...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan hasn't taken it off even once, so why hasn't she been found yet?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Truly mysterious... Yui-tan has to investigate this.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You do that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'll go now, if we're done here...

**Komatsu Yui:** Sure thing! Yui-tan will be sure to tell Izumi-tan what she finds out!

Although I doubt she can figure out anything.

In any case, I doubt the earring has a tracking device - we've been here for a while now, and I don't recall getting any reports about suspicious arrivals...

I'll ask everyone to keep an eye out just in case, but for now I'll just focus on this.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

 

As I walk by the infirmary, I already know what to expect - I made sure to check the cameras this time around -, and as such, it doesn't come as a surprise at all when I see Komatsu reaching for some medicine.

She opens the lid of the container, peering inside - presumably to check its contents -, then cheerfully nods to herself once she confirms it's what she's been looking for.

I step inside just as she fishes out a pair of pills, popping them into her mouth leisurely.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yui-san...? Are you sick?

**Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan isn't sick, no. She can't remember the last time she was sick, actually.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Then why are you taking medicine...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Medicine?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oh, Izumi-tan's got that all wrong. This one is candy!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan made sure to double check.

I take the container from her before she can object to read the label, but she pratically rips it out of my hands.

**Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan can't just take it without asking!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan will give him some if he wants, but he has to ask for it...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Of course I don't want any...!

I think I'd rather keep my dignity and not resort to such pitiful measures, thank you very much.

**Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Then why did Izumi-tan take it like that?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I was just going to read the label.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Liar...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not lying...!

She reluctantly holds the container out for me to see, gripping it tightly.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Fine, then Izumi-tan can read it like this...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...That works.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...See? This is medicine after all...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe Izumi-tan just can't read, hmph.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course I can read!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You shouldn't be taking medicine if you're not sick, Yui-san.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is just saying that to make Yui-tan give the candy to him.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like I said-

 **Komatsu Yui:** It tastes nice, and it makes Yui-tan feel good, so what's the harm?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan obviously doesn't know what he's talking about.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ngh-!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Fine, be that way for all I care.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't come to me crying about it later.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Of course Yui-tan won't do that...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is silly.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Am not...

God, this is draining...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe if Izumi-tan tried it, he'd change his mind.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I think I'd rather not...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Boo...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Either way, just... please keep it away from me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's extremely uncomfortable.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan will think about it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...Thanks.

**Komatsu Yui:** So, now that that's over...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan should pick his potion.

**Izumi Mamoru:** My what...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** It would be a waste to end a meeting so early.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan can pick whatever activity he wants!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Let's go to the theater.

 **Komatsu Yui:** The theater, hm?

**Komatsu Yui:** That's an intriguing choice.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's a normal one.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Sure, sure.

She grabs me by the wrist as she slips the medicine underneath her dress with her free hand, rushing ahead with her usual energy. I don't appreciate it all that much, but it could be worse.

She lets go of me once we arrive to run up to the door and push it open, doing a cartwheel to get inside. I end up following her with an unimpressed look.

 **Komatsu Yui:** This place is pretty big, huh?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Doesn't it make Izumi-tan want to jump around?

It makes me want to get on stage and perform, actually.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Still, Yui-tan has to wonder why Izumi-tan picked this place out if everything...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It was just a random pick...

**Komatsu Yui:** Or maybe it has to do with Izumi-tan's secret.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Definitely not.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Mm...

She giggles as she runs towards the stage, climbing on top of it.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yells in my direction, loud enough that I have to cover my ears.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan, follow Yui-tan!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Alright, quiet down...!

She grabs a wooden sword that had been left behind by whoever came here last, waving it around in the air.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Let's have a duel!

Now, that's an offer worth considering.

I walk up to her after fetching a sword myself - I know basically nothing about real swordfighting, but I can at least make it look good.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Bring it, in that case.

She has no idea what she's doing, that much is clear, but she's agile enough to make up for it. It's kinda fun messing around like this - but that's not because of her or anything, yeah. I just like weapons is all.

I manage to knock the sword out of her hands, and it slides towards the edge of the stage as she dives after it.

Her skirt flies up - which, under normal circumstances, wouldn't even get a reaction from me, but the shiny metal underneath makes me feel strangely alert all of a sudden.

Wires are wrapped around the girl's waist and hips, various small objects hanging off them like a weirdly decorated christmas tree, although the only thing I can make out is a small pocket knife and the medicine from earlier before her skirt returns to its original position.

She doesn't seem like she noticed any of it as she stands back up, sword in hand, and I take a deep breath as I ready myself to continue, silently noting the information to myself.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

I wasn't going to look for her at all, if I have to be honest, but something curious in the security camera footage managed to catch my eye, so... here I am, wandering through the hallway. From what I saw, she should be nearby, and I doubt she'll go running off the way she is now.

**Komatsu Yui:** ...

There she is.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yui-san...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oh... it's you.

**Izumi Mamoru:** What's up with you today?

**Komatsu Yui:** My head hurts...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Did you get yourself actually sick?

 **Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan is a liar...

 **Komatsu Yui:** He told Yui-tan she shouldn't take the candy...

 **Komatsu Yui:** But now I feel way worse than before.

 **Komatsu Yui:** This is all your fault...

Ahh, did she actually stop taking it...? That's... kind of impressive in a way. And it explains pretty much everything I saw before...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How would it be my fault...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're probably just suffering from withdrawal symptoms. This is why you shouldn't have taken so much in the first place.

 **Komatsu Yui:** So... if I hadn't stopped, I'd be fine.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Even if you felt fine, your body wouldn't be.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** These things are very damaging to your health.

**Komatsu Yui:** Liar...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why would I lie about it?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan's friends told her everything would be fine...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan believes them, not Izumi-tan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever...

 **Komatsu Yui:** ...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...I'll go make you some tea.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No idea if it'll help, but if it stops you from whining like that, I'll take it.

**Komatsu Yui:** ...

I get walking without glancing back in her direction, although I can hear her start to follow me once I'm a few steps ahead. She's sluggish, hunched forward slightly, but at least it doesn't seem like she'll fall down the stairs.

She rests her chin on the table in the kitchen while I start preparing the tea, sending subtle looks her way every once in a while. It's kind of nice not to have her constantly chattering...

Scratch that, it's fantastic.

I place the cup down in front of her when I'm finished, and she stares at it for a few seconds before she lifts her hand to take it. Her hand seems to shake a little during the small sips she takes, but even if she drops it, it'll land in her lap - so I promptly ignore it.

It takes a while for me to start a conversation again.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Is it any better?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Not even a little.

 **Komatsu Yui:** I shouldn't have done what you told me...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You can start taking it again for all I care.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not your mom.

 **Komatsu Yui:** I can't right now... I left it in my room.

**Komatsu Yui:** Ahh... I really want one though...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Just one would be good enough...

 **Komatsu Yui:** I feel sick...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Make your mind up at least...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Izumi-tan, what do I have to do to get back to normal?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How should I know...? I never had an addiction like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'd assume it'll take a long time, though.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Ugh...

 **Komatsu Yui:** I feel cheated...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes, you've already said that.

Kind of...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You might find information about it in the library.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It'd be faster to look it up online, but I doubt we can do that here.

**Komatsu Yui:** Sounds like a pain...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Are you the Super High School Level Smartass or something?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oh yeah, you still haven't told me your talent...

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's probably something equally stupid as that though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Why wouldn't you wanna tell someone anyway?

 **Komatsu Yui:** From what I've seen, nobody has any idea.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Is it something embarrassing?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Or...

Her eyes flash so sharply I almost drop character for a moment - but she can't remember anything; I know that. There's no reason for me to be so anxious...

**Komatsu Yui:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** No, it's nothing. It's probably just Yui-tan's imagination.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Or is it?

**Izumi Mamoru:** You and your riddles will drive me nuts one day...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you so curious about my talent anyway?

 **Komatsu Yui:** I can't help it. If you want to keep something a secret so much, it's a given that people will want to know even more.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Komatsu Yui:** So? What is it? You have no reason not to tell me, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't remember.

**Komatsu Yui:** Huh?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I said I don't remember.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Your talent...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That, and a bunch of other things...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is that what you wanted to know?

**Komatsu Yui:** Eehh... That's interesting...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Very much so.

 **Komatsu Yui:** You know, I've been having some weird dreams lately.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Maybe you should try the candy after all. It seems like it makes you remember certain things.

The way she says it sends a chill down my spine - not because of her tone, but rather, because of what that's implying.

She probably doesn't know enough... yet. But if she continues remembering things she shouldn't...

Should I tell Fujinomiya...? Well... I guess if we're discussing this here she might already know...

**Komatsu Yui:** What's wrong?

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I already told you I don't want any of that.

 **Komatsu Yui:** You sure?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Definitely.

 **Komatsu Yui:** If you say so...

She leans back in her seat as she finishes her tea, and I go over the options I have in my head silently.

Maybe... Maybe I should just ask Fujinomiya anyway. Even if she might know already, I need to make sure...

Otherwise this might turn into a pretty big mess.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I talked to Fujinomiya - of course I did; I wouldn't leave something like this up to chance -, but she didn't seem too concerned about it. I guess she must not have other things on her mind...

I wanna lecture her about it, but I feel like she won't listen even if I do... She never does, geez...

I'm pretty sure Komatsu started taking the medicine again too, and I just can't stop worrying about it...

I've been considering checking up on her in her room, actually. It should be the most straightforward way, right? I'd rather risk small trouble than ruin the entire killing game by not paying enough attention.

As such, before I know it, I'm already standing in front of her room.

I knock on her door and wait for her to answer, taking a deep breath to calm myself down ahead of time. She takes her time opening the door, and only pokes her head out at first when she finally does, examining me from head to toe.

**Komatsu Yui:** Well, well, if it isn't Izumi-tan...

 **Komatsu Yui:** What business does he have with Yui-tan today?

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wanted to ask if you were feeling better after last time.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Oho? Was Izumi-tan worried about Yui-tan, perhaps?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm just curious; you don't have to make such a big deal out of it.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Mhm...

**Komatsu Yui:** But Yui-tan's been feeling a lot better, yes! 

 **Komatsu Yui:** Her headache went away recently as well, so there's no need for Izumi-tan to worry.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I already said I'm not worried.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hey, last time you said you were having weird dreams, right...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** That's right! Does Izumi-tan want to talk about that?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan can tell him all about it, in that case!

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Yeah, that's what I came here for. I can come inside then, right...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan already said yes, silly.

I don't comment on that last part as I step inside, Komatsu closing the door behind me. The room is just as messy as I remember - while normally I don't mind mess too much, this is much too ridiculous to ignore even for me. I almost stepped on some paper just now, for god's sake!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Do you ever clean in here...?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Nope. Is that a problem?

 **Komatsu Yui:** Is Izumi-tan suffering from compulsive perfectionism maybe?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've never seen a room this messy...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Feel free to take a seat!

Okay, but where...?

Seeing as how I can't really do anything else, I sit down on the floor, crossing my legs. The girl rummages around for a bit before she fetches a bottle of cold tea from lord knows where, presumably looking for a glass for a minute or two before she gives up and simply hands me the drink.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Thanks.

I take a sip - it's decent enough. It's far from the worst thing I've had, at least...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm... not really sure where to start, though.

**Komatsu Yui:** It's okay, Yui-tan can explain things on her own.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Well, it's not like she knows everything yet... but it's still pretty nice!

**Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan knows everyone came here willingly. She's not quite sure why, but she also knows things aren't the way they're supposed to be.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Also, she's pretty sure everyone is missing a lot more memories than they think they are.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan has been seeing a lot more weird sights than she thought she would.

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's all very disorienting, though... It makes her head hurt a little to think about it so much.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Ah, but Yui-tan hasn't remembered Izumi-tan's talent yet... or she's pretty sure she hasn't, at least.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Actually, she doesn't remember Izumi-tan at all.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She doesn't remember anyone here, in fact! Isn't that strange?

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not really strange if we've never met before... At least I don't think so.

Although so much stuff to think about at once does make my head spin a little...

 **Komatsu Yui:** But Yui-tan feels like everyone should know each other... somehow.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't recall ever seeing you before...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Well, that's obvious. Izumi-tan hasn't been taking the candy, after all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You mean the medicine.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Candy is the medicine of the heart.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever you say...

**Komatsu Yui:** Is Izumi-tan sure he doesn't want any?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You've asked me that a billion times already...

 **Komatsu Yui:** Yui-tan knows that... But she's still curious, and she's not sure if she can remember enough things on her own.

 **Komatsu Yui:** She wants to ask everyone else to help her out, but she's already been rejected by Hanamiya-tan when she asked him earlier!

 **Komatsu Yui:** It doesn't seem like Hanamiya-tan believes her...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Even so, I don't think this is the right way to go about this...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not that I can stop you.

**Komatsu Yui:** See, Izumi-tan is worried about Yui-tan after all!

 **Komatsu Yui:** He's just embarrassed, that's it!

**Izumi Mamoru:** N-no, of course not! It's the natural thing to say in this kind of a situation!

 **Komatsu Yui:** Hehe...

I scoff at her attitude and wait for my head to stop spinning - before I realise that's not happening anytime soon. In fact, it's only getting worse.

My expression goes blank as I attempt to assess the situation, but it's getting harder and harder to think, and my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier.

The bottle falls from my hand without me realising.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yui-san... did you...?

Before I can finish the sentence, I feel myself fall forward, the dull thud as I land on the ground only a faint echo in the far distance.

**Komatsu Yui:**...

 **Komatsu Yui:** I should've prepared a mattress, huh...

 **Komatsu Yui:** It's okay, Izumi-tan, it's not like I'm going to do anything to you.

 **Komatsu Yui:** I just need a safe way to question you is all.

**Komatsu Yui:** It'd be pretty silly not to consider you extremely suspicious after everything I've seen, you know.

 **Komatsu Yui:** Hehe...

**Event 5: Cleared...?**

**Item Acquired: Komatsu's Undergarments**

****

They look more like swimwear, but they fit nicely enough. It seems the strings are tied rather loosely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is setsuko!!


	36. The linguist

**You have selected: Minamoto Setsuko**

She's more than likely not one of the easiest options I have, but I kind of feel like impressing Fujinomiya... so Minamoto it is. Besides, she's not nearly as unbearable as someone like Yokoyama.

She's leaning against the wall - I briefly wonder if I should prepare myself better since she's so weird to talk to, but then again, I'm also confident enough, so I walk up to her anyway.

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...

She doesn't look like she's paying too much attention... Is she spacing out or something?

Maybe she's just bored since nobody's come up to her to talk yet.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Excuse me...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Yeah?

So she wasn't spacing out after all...

Either that or she's pretending that she wasn't.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Aren't you hot wearing so many things at once?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm more of the cool character type though.

She flashes a peace sign, looking very pleased with herself.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** But I'm flattered, thanks.

That joke is honestly so bad it doesn't even deserve a response.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Could I have your name please...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Sure thing.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm Minamoto Setsuko, the Super High School Level Linguist.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Try not to be too amazed - I'm smart, I know. It's all just hard work and motivation, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Even if you don't have such an intellectual talent-

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm, actually... I don't exactly remember my talent...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Oh.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I can tell you my name though...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** My name is Izumi Mamoru. There are a lot of things I don't remember, b-but I hope we can get along, Minamoto-san.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** You don't remember, huh...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Does that mean you have amnesia?

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like I have no memories whatsoever...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's just certain things about my home and my talent that I can't recall.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** So it's selective amnesia, then.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Well, the name of it is about everything I know about it. You'd be better off asking Natsume-kun; he looks pretty smart.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Natsume-kun...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess that's fair...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Speaking of that, though... What exactly _is_ your talent like, Minamoto-san?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** It means I'm very smart, Izumi-kun.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I study language. It's a pretty complicated subject, though, so I doubt you'd get it unless it's something you're already invested in.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I see...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** It's kind of annoying that nobody's ever interested in it, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I wanna go back to when books were still trendy...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like people don't read at all, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** That's not the point...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I've read all these wonderful novels that everyone else refuses to read just because they're too old-fashioned.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And it's even worse with boys...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're probably too occupied trying to peek up girls' skirts, huh.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I- I don't do that...!

**Minamoto Setsuko:** You stuttered. I've got you now, Izumi-kun.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I bet you wanna sneak into the bath with one of the girls too, mmm?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course not!

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** It's okay; you're just following your biological functions after all.

**Izumi Mamoru:** P-please don't accuse me of such a thing so easily!

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm just joking anyway.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Geez... That's not very funny...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Kageyama-kun laughed it off earlier. Maybe you're just too uptight?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Maybe some time in that bath would-

 **Izumi Mamoru:** The bath is off-limits!

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Pfft... Alright, if you say so.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'll keep that in mind, pervert-kun.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Minamoto-san...!

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Then again, I doubt any of the girls would actually agree to it, so I guess it's fine.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Have you been to the library yet? It's  _really_ huge; you should check it out as soon as possible.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...Okay, I guess it might not be the biggest one out there, but it's bigger than the ones I've been to at least.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You've visited that many libraries?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it because of your talent?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Not really, we just move around a lot because of my dad's job.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** It's kind of troublesome, but I do enjoy the travelling part at the very least.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And sightseeing in a new place is always fun.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But isn't it kind of sad to leave your friends behind each time?

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Yeah, it's sad. What about it?

Liar - everyone knows you don't have any.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** There's always the internet to keep in contact. It's not the end of the world.

You wouldn't say that if you actually had friends,  _Minamoto-san._

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** What? You don't believe me?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** A-ah, no, that's not it.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Yeah, well,  _I_ don't believe you right now.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Say it straight out if you actually believe me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I believe you, Minamoto-san...?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Somehow that tone is even worse...

**Izumi Mamoru:** W-well, I don't know what you want from me-

**Minamoto Setsuko:** No, it's fine. Let's leave it at that. I'd prefer to keep what's left of my dignity.

It's probably not that much, though.

 **Izumi** **Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Minamoto-san, if... if you don't have any friends, would you...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Would you like to be friends with me?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're not obligated to, of course, but...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...You'll offer it just like that?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's normal, isn't it...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Yes. Let's be friends.

Her tone is so awkward it almost hurts.

But whatever - I got past the first phase easily enough. It's the opening up bit that's a tad concerning... She seems like the type to keep private thoughts to herself no matter what.

I guess I'll just have to continue and see how things progress...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

I don't even need to check the cameras to guess where she is - I head straight towards the library, and peer inside to find her standing on her tiptoes, looking through various shelves.

Imight be more curious about what she's looking for if I was actually interested in classic literature.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Minamoto-san...? Are you searching for something?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Ah, Izumi-kun...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm just looking for something new to read.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Not that I don't already have a bunch of books in my room, it's just...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I have to keep up with the popular stuff too, so I'm trying to pick something out.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I... see...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do you need any help with picking something out?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're not a literary type.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But didn't you just say you're looking for something popular...? I don't think you have to be a... literary type to know that much.

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Fine, I guess. Choose something for me, then.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm... Do you have any particular genres you prefer?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Genres? Anything is fine as long as it's legitimately good.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Just give me something the average person would want to read themselves.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you say so...

I pick the book in about a minute - just scan the shelf and pick the flashiest one you see if you wanna pander to the masses -, handing it over to her afterwards. She turns it in her hands with a slightly sceptical look before composing her expression and shrugging her shoulders.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Urban fantasy isn't the worst, I suppose.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Thank you for the recommendation.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No problem, but...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is there a reason why you want to keep up with what other people are into as well?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** To have something to talk about, duh.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Not that it comes up all that often...

So she has trouble starting casual conversations even when her own interest is involved.

She keeps surpassing my expectations of how much she can disappoint me so much it's an achievement in and of itself.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** It's much easier when I can just listen, geez...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Do you prefer having people talk to you instead of you talking to them, then?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...That's what I just said.

On the other hand, that's even more unexpected; I figured her for the type to really enjoy running her mouth.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I... don't think I have anything I wanna talk about all that much though...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** That's most likely because of your selective amnesia; I already knew that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sorry...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Hmph...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Nakajima-kun seems like the only one who actually enjoys reading here, but he's a pain to be around.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** He's practically a lemon in human form with all those sour remarks...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like you're much better though...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I- I'm not like that...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're... a little rude yourself, aren't you?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm just- I'm just very blunt, that's it.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I won't insult you if it's uncalled for...

Even though you'd already done that several times before...

Maybe she's simply blissfully unaware of it... or maybe she's trying her best to cover for herself when it comes to her hypocrisy. I'm honestly not sure which one is worse.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...I'm sorry...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm- I'll just go-

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** N-no, you don't have to. I was just thinking.

Lying again...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...I don't get you guys.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Kageyama-kun can be as tactless as ever, but everyone still likes him.

**Izumi Mamoru:** But... Kageyama-kun isn't insulting people, is he?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Although... you don't really have to hold back or anything if you really don't want to.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I mean, if you're a naturally blunt person, it's not like you absolutely have to hold back.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Some people definitely won't like it, but you're not aiming to be friends with everyone anyway.

**Izumi Mamoru:** But then again... like I said, it might be better to cut down on the insults. I'm sure that won't be too hard.

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Whatever...

I'll assume that means she's going to think about it at least.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** So, are you done lecturing me yet?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Guess so. I hope you'll enjoy the book, at least.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm sure I will...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe you should ask everyone else for their recommendations too. You might get more friends, you know.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I already said the only other person that likes to read is Nakajima-kun...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Now, now, you don't know that. It can't hurt to ask them, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure they won't mind sharing their opinions if you just ask them politely.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...By sure, you mean-

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I am absolutely, completely, 100% sure. Please don't worry so much.

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...If you're that persistent about it, there's not that much I can do...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Fine... I'll ask around later. I have plenty of time to read right now anyway.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes, that's the spirit...!

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** But if anything goes wrong, I'll hold you responsible, got it?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes... that's fine.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And stop agreeing to these things so easily. Have some backbone, for god's sake.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Do I act like I don't have any...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're a total pushover, in the end...

**Izumi Mamoru:** N-now, that's uncalled for... I can stand up for myself when I need to.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're the type to be taken advantage of, aren't you, Izumi-kun?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm... I'm really not...

 

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Even if you're a pushover, though, I'm glad.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you glad about something like that...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're easy to talk to.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Am I...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Easier than most people, at least...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Try to find your talent soon, okay?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Thank you.

I wonder what she'd say to the talent I have in mind... or lack thereof, rather.

But I guess I'll have to wait with that for a while.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

The door to the cafeteria opens, and I lift my head to see Minamoto stepping inside. She nonchalantly flings one of her braids over her shoulder as the door closes behind her, stretching her back afterwards. It  _is_ rather early - she must still be sleepy. I might be half-asleep myself if I wasn't an early riser by nature.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Good morning, Minamoto-san!

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Morning...

She stifles a yawn.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Did you not get enough sleep last night?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I just went to bed later than usual.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I had too many things to do.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like what?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Nothing important.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Geez...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...

She plops down next to me, lowering her voice in hopes that it'll be enough to stop people from listening in - not that there are that many around this early.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I was taking notes.

**Izumi Mamoru:** For what?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...For talking to everyone else, obviously...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I... don't really get it.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I need to prepare if I'm going to have a conversation with someone, dummy.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I can't just go in blindly and expect everything to be fine.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Isn't that how most conversations go though...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Maybe in your case they do... But that's never worked for me.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** So I'm going to go ahead and remove as many uncertain variables as I can to make sure I actually have a chance this time.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You can't complain. I've accepted your deal already.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:**...I guess...

 

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Can't you just go up to them and ask them if they have any books to recommend, though?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Everyone already knows each other anyway.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Something like that would only work on a certain type.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm not going to go up to someone like that...

She sure got worked up fast.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't see the harm...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...Whatever, I guess you don't know.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't know what...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** It's nothing important.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That again...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why don't you find something else you can talk about first, then? Something that you would both enjoy...

**Izumi Mamoru:** What kind of hobbies do you have besides reading, Minamoto-san?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Hobbies...? I like music, I guess.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And I enjoy writing every once in a while.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** By writing, do you mean novels...? Or something similar to that?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** It's really none of your business.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You mentioned it first, though...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If writing is out of the question, then... can't you go up to someone to talk about music?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Takahashi-kun would be ideal for that, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That, or Fujinomiya-san...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...I guess neither of the two are all that intimidating.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, that's right. I'm sure they won't mind hanging out for a bit as long as you're polite and all.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Okay then, I'll see if they're free later. I still need to eat first...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Would you like me to prepare some tea for you?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Sure...

She follows me into the kitchen, taking a seat afterwards, back to wearing a mildly sleepy expression. I kind of want to laugh at her, but I probably shouldn't...

It's not my fault if she's gonna be so stubborn about everything; honestly, she's just making more trouble for herself. I kind of wonder if I should ask Takahashi-kun to approach her instead... but no, it'll be far more satisfying if she actually goes ahead herself. I mean, I'm the one that convinced her, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Here you go.

I place the cup down in front of her once I'm done, and she stares at it for a few seconds with an unreadable expression before she reaches out to grab it. She lifts it up carefully to take a slow sip as her gaze wanders all over the place.

She keeps holding onto it instead of placing it down.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Do you think it's weird...? To try to prepare so much, I mean...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's... a little weird, yes.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But it's not like it's a bad thing... probably.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Huh...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You're not expecting me to scold you for it, are you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm just glad you agreed to give discarding it a shot.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's more to make things easier for you than anything else.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Giving advice is the only way I can help... I think. So I felt like I should try to change your mind at the very least.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I don't get it...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's to be expected...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** But I suppose even if I don't understand it, it's not the end of the world to think it over better.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Don't expect too much, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm still going to use past experiences for guidance. It's the rational thing to do.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's good enough for a first step.

She finishes the rest of her tea, standing up afterwards, clearly looking pretty conflicted.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Thank you for the tea.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Have fun with Takahashi-kun.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Yeah, I'll try...

She mumbles something to herself as she walks off, fiddling with her sleeves.

I should ask Takahashi later about how their talk went just to make sure...

In the meantime, I should think about what I'm going to talk to her about afterwards. I have quite a few things that I'd like to bring up, but we won't get anywhere if she's reluctant to share.

It might be better not to pry too much too fast, though.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Ah, Izumi-kun-

I turn my head to see her gesturing for me to walk over. I was just heading to the theater, but I'm willing to chat a little just this once... maybe. I  _am_ rather curious about how her talk with Takahashi went.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, Minamoto-san?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Hey. Do you have a moment?

I have lots of them, yes; the question is whether they're free or not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wasn't really doing anything, so...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What's up?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, could it be? Are you going to tell me how much fun you had with Takahashi-kun?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Acting smart, huh?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** But yeah, that's pretty much it. Is that a problem?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, not at all. Go ahead.

That  _was_ the only reason I even stopped for you in the first place...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** In that case... it was a lot of fun. He ended up playing the violin for me too.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Takahashi-kun is a really nice guy.

**Izumi Mamoru:** See? I told you everything would be fine.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You did, didn't you?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...Thanks.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I'm still kind of annoyed that you wanted to get so involved in the whole thing, but at least it ended well.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Otherwise I'd have had to smack you or something.

 

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Please don't.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I won't just yet.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wonder if that was enough to convince you to try to talk to others like that...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I'll consider it. I'd prefer to take my time, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, that's alright. Take as much time as you need.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Either way, now that that's out of the way... I have something to give you.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You better appreciate it, though. I don't give these things out to just anybody.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Also, if you tell anyone... I'll lock you in the bath with Natsume-kun.

Yeah, I don't think I ever want to experience that.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, I'd rather you didn't...

**Izumi Mamoru:** What is it, though? Do you mean a gift of some kind...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...I guess you could say that...

She hands me a scrapbook without any sort of label, and I only wonder briefly about what it could be.

I remember seeing this on the camera footage. If I'm not mistaken...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** You wanted to know what I write, right?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You can keep it... I have too many of these anyway.

I open it to flip through some pages, and find it willed with poems of various types and length.

Yeah, now I remember... She supposedly likes poetry, doesn't she?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Are... Are you sure I can have this...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I mean... isn't it important to you?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I don't mind... just this once. But you better take good care of it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Thank you, Minamoto-san.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Yeah, yeah, you're welcome.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And like I said-

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I won't show it to anyone without your permission, yes. You don't have to worry.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...Good.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** That's all you're getting, though. The rest are private.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's alright. I'm flattered.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You better be.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** You're the second person I'm willing to show these.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Who's the first one...?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** My dad.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What about your mom?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I don't have one.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...Well, I do, but...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Someone like that doesn't count.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Someone like what...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, I'm sorry, this isn't the time for me to ask.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Thank you for the gift...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...No, it's alright. I'm used to explaining it to people.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Although I admit it would've been nicer if you'd timed it better.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Don't worry about it for now. I'll tell you the story later, if you want.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I just...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I was kind of enjoying the mood from before...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sorry...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I demand you go make me more tea to make up for it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you'd like me to...

She walks ahead in the direction of the cafeteria with her arms crossed, although she looks more flustered than anything. She goes ahead and takes a seat as soon as we arrive in the kitchen, leaning back a little with a smug expression.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'll wait here...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're so demanding, Minamoto-san...

I get to making the tea anyway, though - I kind of want some too. The girl stares at the scrapbook that I'd placed onto the counter for now, looking like she really wants to say something but keeping quiet about it nevertheless.

She really is the quiet type, when it comes down to it... even though she can run her mouth quite a lot at times.

I guess it's not the end of the world, though, even if she is. I'm almost there anyway... I think. She already trusts me at the very least.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Hey...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Would you be willing to come to my room tomorrow?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I kind of feel like I'll keep putting this off if I don't assign it a date, so...

There's my ticket - I  _knew_ I'd be just fine.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Sure thing.

It should be the last step... I hope.

It sure is great when everything goes your way in life, eh?

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I wait until the time we agreed on to knock on her door - I just... don't wanna seem too eager, I guess. She, on the other hand, opens the door quite fast, as though she's been standing right next to it the entire time. She  _might_ have been for all I know.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Hey...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hello, uhm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Are you in a bad mood today...?

She steps out of the way to let me enter.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Not bad, just awkward...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I haven't really done something like this before so... it feels weird.

Most likely because it  _is_ a tad weird.

I step inside after a moment of hesitation, glancing around to find a place to sit down - she promptly pushes a chair towards me before I can decide on something, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Here. Take a seat.

I do as she tells me to, and she sits on her bed, legs crossed.

**Izumi Mamoru:** This feels like a business meeting a little bit, doesn't it?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Huh... Does it?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe because you picked a time and place for it... and you're being more formal than usual too.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Well, yeah... That's normal, you know. This is a pretty big deal for me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I figured as much...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like I mind, though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'd kick you out if you did.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ahaha...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Anyway... you wanted to know about my mom, right?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I guess it's a bit weird that I called you here just for that, but I don't want anyone else to overhear it either, so...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah...? Don't worry about it. Like I said, I don't mind.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:**...You did say that...

**Minamoto Setsuko:**...

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** So, about my mom... It's kind of a special case.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** She's not dead or anything... She doesn't live with us though.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** She left my dad soon after I was born because she didn't want a kid.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** It's alright, though. It's not like I'd want a mom like that.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'd call her by her name instead too if I'd bothered to memorise it.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I'd say we're better off without her. My dad doesn't have too many money troubles either.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, I'm sorry...

I continue when she raises a brow. I almost forgot she's not the type who likes being felt sorry for.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** For prying, that is.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** There's no need to be sorry. It's pretty natural that you'd be curious about it.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** And I offered to tell you anyway, so all is good.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** I just don't go around telling everyone because it gets some pretty weird reactions.

Makes sense...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** You better not tell anyone else, pervert-kun. I'll be keeping an eye on you.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Again with that nickname...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Minamoto-san, how many times do you need me to-

 

 

**Minamoto Setsuko:** It was just a joke, silly. Lighten up.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmph...

She snickers, hiding behind her scarf, and it's even more tempting than before to respond in a childish manner.

Ah, the things I do for the game...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** By the way, have you remembered anything about your talent yet?

**Izumi Mamoru:** My talent...? No, not yet.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm kind of worried, actually... I don't even know if I have a talent or not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What if I'm just a regular student...?

**Minamoto Setsuko:** Ehh, you're worried about something like that?

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** It's not like it'd change who you are, you know. Whether you have a talent or not, you're still you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But... you guys all have these really impressive talents...

**Minamoto Setsuko:** I mean, having a talent is cool, yeah.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** But it's not like you can't live life without one.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** We're already friends for one, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...I guess...

She proceeds to stand up from the bed and walk over, raising her hand to flick my forehead.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ow-!

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Cheer up, will you? Everything's going to be fine, so there's no need for you to keep worrying like that.

**Minamoto Setsuko:** If it turns out that you don't have a talent, I'll personally take it upon myself to teach you everything about mine.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But-

She pinches my cheek this time.

 **Minamoto Setsuko:** Objection is not allowed.

While this whole thing is a bit... bothersome, I'll take what I can get. It should be more than enough to brag to Fujinomiya.

I let out a sigh after I manage to get her to let go, and she continues snickering, wearing an extremely amused expression. Pulling her hair is a rather tempting option right now.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Minamoto's Undergarments**

****

They seem a little expensive, and perhaps a little loose for a girl with hips so narrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is neko-san i mean what  
> u guys have no idea how much i hate having to come up w male hairstyles


	37. The videogame developer

**You have selected: Sakurauchi Nao**

She can be rather loud at times, but... she should be an alright choice. It's mostly the fact that I'm pretty curious about her though... She looks much, much more different than her real world version, more than anyone else.

Maybe there's on big story behind it, but I can't help but wonder regardless.

I tap her shoulder lightly and she flinches before she turns around.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Oho? Who's this, who's this?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** You haven't given me your name yet, right? I'm sorry, but there are just so many people around, it's really hard to remember who is who.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Wait -  _have_ we met, then? 

**Sakurauchi Nao:** You don't know?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do  _you_...?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Hmm...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I know I saw you earlier, but...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Nope, sorry. I've got nothing.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Whelp, whatever. We can just do it again even if we've already done it before.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ah, that's true, that's true!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'll go ahead and start then, if we're doing introductions.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'm Sakurauchi Nao, and I'm the Super High School Level Videogame Developer! Nice to meet you!

At least she's direct enough when she has to be.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** What about you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh- My name is Izumi Mamoru, but...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I don't actually remember what my talent is. Dunno why...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** You don't? Did you hit your head or something, Izumi-san...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Everyone else I've asked so far seemed to remember theirs.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Huh... Maybe it's just temporary, then.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Maybe...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Well, I hope you'll remember soon.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ooh, maybe I could guess it for you!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Not that I could tell you whether it's correct or not, though...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** But you might remember something just from the name, maybe.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Eh...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not the biggest deal, to be honest. I'll probably just wait and see if something comes up.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Hmm? Okay then...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Besides, I kind of wanna talk more about your talent.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** You do!? Do you like videogames?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't play super often, but sure; they can be fun.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What kind of games do you make?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Dating sims, for the most part.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I like RPGs a lot too though. I've tried my hand at plenty of genres before.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Dating sims, huh...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** What? Not what you expected?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A bit, maybe.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't really play those, so I guess that might be why I haven't heard your name before.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Well, that's alright. They're not for everyone.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Most of them are Girls' Love too, so I'm not expecting them to be that well-known or anything.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** People know me more for my other stuff.

**Izumi Mamoru:** By Girls' Love, do you mean...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Hehe...

I...  _guess_ I can see that.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I can send you some links if you're interested once we get out of here, if you like.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I have a few shorter ones that should only take you a few days to finish.

You say that like it's not a lot with a  _dating sim_ of all things.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, sure, I'll take it.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Great!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** What kind of games  _do_ you play, anyway?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Me? RPGs and action games for the most part... probably.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I usually just play whatever my friends recommend.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Ohh, I see...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** But you're open to any genre, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Guess so.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** That's good, that's good!

**Sakurauchi Nao:** My brothers are really picky with what kind of games they like, so I've messed around with their files a few times to replace them to get them to try new genres.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'm glad I won't have to do that this time.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** A-ahaha... I'd rather you didn't.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Yep, don't worry about it!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Actually, you know what? Give me a moment.

She rushes into the store without saying anything else, leaving me slightly dumbfounded, all by myself outside.

Yeah... she's a weird one alright.

She comes outside with a small notepad and a ballpoint pen, already scribbling onto the paper. She rips it out when she's done, holding it out for me to take, looking rather proud of herself - and I do, examining it curiously afterwards.

It seems to be a list of titles - probably the games she recommends.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** These ones are the ones I'm the most proud of.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I didn't wanna forget them later, so I figured might as well write them down as soon as possible.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh... thanks.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'll check them out whenever I can.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Okay!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Oh, but... if you have any siblings, make sure to keep them away from the last two.

I don't think I want to know why, but at the same time, I kind of do.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Sure.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I didn't take you for the kind of person who'd be interested in these kinds of things, Sakurauchi-san.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Well, I mean... I won't talk about it with people in real life.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** But this is a game, you know! In games, everything is a-okay!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess that's true...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** So, with that, please treat me as a developer and me as a person with different kind of expectations.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, sure. That much is manageable.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Thank you!

She bows deeply as an expression of gratitude, although it's so sudden I can almost feel the wind of it brush past me.

Once she straightens up, she beams.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I should probably go see if there's someone else I haven't talked to yet, so...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, I should get to that too. We can talk more later.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Okay!

And with that, she rushes off, turning her head left and right to try to spot people easier.

I'm glad that's over, at the very least... although I do enjoy talking about games.

It would be kind of nicer if she liked movies more though...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

I blink when I come across someone on their knees in the hallway - only to realise it's Sakurauchi. What is  _she_ doing over there...? She seems to be searching for something on the floor...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ah, Izumi-san...?

Something appears to be amiss...

It takes me perhaps a bit too long to realise what it is.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Sakurauchi-san, are you... wearing contacts?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Actually... I dropped the ones I usually wear.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I forgot to put them on this morning, so I rushed back in my room to grab them quickly.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I guess I probably shouldn't have tried to put them on without a mirror...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ohh... I'll help you look then, wait.

I crouch down near her, scanning the floor to see if I can spot anything. What kind of an idiot would try to put their contacts on in a hallway...? Geez...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Just out of curiosity, though...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why wear the colored ones in the first place?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I've heard they can be kinda dangerous unless you have a prescription for them.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** E-ehh!? Can they really?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I've been wearing them for a while though...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, if you've been wearing them for that long, you might be fine.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I still think it'd be safer to get your eyes checked though.

 **Sakurachi Nao:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it important for you to wear them...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Not... really, no...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** At least I don't think so...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It's just... something I'm kind of attached to, I guess.

**Sakurauchi Nao:**...E-ehe, I'll see what I can do about them since you're so worried about me, Izumi-san.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:**...I wonder if I should just leave them off until we get out of here...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:**...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It's just contacts, yeah...! It's no big deal.

Wow, you do not sound like you believe a single word coming out of your mouth.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why did you start wearing them in the first place...? I haven't seen many people do that.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Mmm... I'm not sure, actually. Let me think...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It might've been because I read about them in a magazine.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It was pretty long ago so I don't remember much.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** My mom leaves her fashion magazines all over the house all the time so it was only a matter of time until I picked them up.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** There are some pretty weird things in a couple of them, but they're kinda fun to read.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** And it's not like they don't have anything useful in them.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ah, oops. You probably don't read a lot of those, do you? I'm sorry for getting carried away.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Huh...? Don't worry about it, really. You weren't rambling or anything...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Really? That's good, then!

**Izumi Mamoru:** If I can give you a tip, though... I think your eyes look just fine the way they are.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you prefer wearing contacts, it's all good, but there's nothing wrong with their normal color either.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** You think so?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, sure.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:**...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** You're a pretty nice guy, aren't you? Izumi-san...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Where did that come from all of a sudden...?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Don't worry about it.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Ah, I found one of them!

She breathes a sigh of relief as she carefully picks up the contact lens, examining it from closer.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It's a bit dirty, but it's not like I'll be putting it on anytime soon, so...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I'm just glad I found it. It would've been kind of sad to lose it after so long...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, hey, I found the other one as well.

I hand it over to her as she cheerfully thanks me, eyes sparkling.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I knew I could count on you, Izumi-san! Thank you!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't mention it.

I dust myself off as I stand up, the girl simply hopping to her feet in the meantime.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I think I'll take these back to my room. I wouldn't wanna lose them by carrying them around all day.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Wanna come with? Or would you wanna have breakfast first?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not that hungry, so... sure, I can go.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Neat!

She rushes ahead, and I follow her leisurely, organizing my thoughts in the meantime.

If she's had that much time to browse fashion magazines, her appearance really isn't too much of a surprise. Still, who would forget about something like that...? She must be pretty scatterbrained if she doesn't remember something like deciding to wear contacts. I mean... that's  _kind of_ a big thing, right? Girls make a big deal out of changing their appearance, at least...

As I wait outside her room, I hum to myself quietly, wondering about the same thing over and over. I know I shouldn't focus on such a small thing so much, but come on, I'm too curious at this point... And it's not like asking this weirdo is sure to grant me an answer.

I let out a sigh just as she steps outside, dusting her hands off.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Is something wrong, Izumi-san...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Mmm... It's nothing, don't worry about it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've just been thinking about some stuff.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Like what?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Would you wanna go to the arcade sometime? Tomorrow, maybe...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** The arcade...? Of course!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I haven't spent much time there yet, so tomorrow is definitely good for me!

Alright, that's settled, then. I nod to myself in satisfaction as I speed up a little, getting kind of hungry by now.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Let's go eat, then. I'm starving.

The girl cheerfully runs ahead yet again.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

I stand in front of the arcade with my hands in my pockets, whistling nonchalantly. It's way before the agreed waiting time, but hey, I've got pretty much nothing better to do.

Fortunately for me, it seems like Sakurauchi isn't too busy either as she arrives quite soon herself, waving cheerfully when she spots me.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Izumi-san! Hello!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Afternoon, Sakurauchi-san. You're here pretty early.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** You arrived before me, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I just wanted to play something beforehand real quick, you know...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** What a coincidence; me too!

Fantastic.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Let's go inside then, I guess... Since we're already here.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Okay!

She takes it upon herself to walk ahead and examine each machine from up close one by one - even though I'm pretty sure she'd seen all of them before. Maybe she's just having difficulty deciding on what she wants to start with.

I'm... fine with anything, I guess, so I'm not too concerned.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ehehe... Izumi-san, have you played a shooter game before?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A shooter game...? I'm pretty good at those, yeah.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Perfect! We can have a competition, in that case!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Eehh... Are we going to bet something too, then?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** A bet...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'd be up for that, but... like what, though?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm... How about the loser has to answer any one question the winner has for them? It can be  _anything_.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ehh... You're confident, aren't you?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Fine then. But I'm warning you - I won't go easy on you, Izumi-san.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not expecting you to.

And so we played.

It was pretty fun, actually - arcade games aren't hard at all to enjoy, after all. I'm pretty damn good at shooters as well, if I say so myself.

In the end, though... no matter how close I got, I ended up losing anyway.

I guess that's what it's like to challenge someone whose number one passion is videogames...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ahh, damn... I was close.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Nope, not even a little.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hey, now, isn't that just a bit too mean?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Mmm... Nope!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I wonder what I should ask...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** What's something embarrassing to ask?

 **IzumI Mamoru:** Go easy on me, will you?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Hmm...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** What kind of girls do you like?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Huh...? But that's a pretty normal question...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Is it?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, yeah... Girls ask each other that all the time too, don't they? Just with guys, rather...

**Sakurauchi Nao:**...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I was hoping your wife is 2D so you'd be too flustered to respond...

My wife  _is_ 2D and I'm not at all embarrassed of her, thank you very much.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Doesn't seem like you're in luck.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But girls, huh...

I like short, blonde and busty girls the most, if I have to be honest.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't really have too much of a preference. I guess as long as she's someone I hit it off with, I'm okay with anyone.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I  _would_ prefer someone shorter than me though...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Huh...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What kind of guys do  _you_ like, then?

**Sakuracuhi Nao:** Ehh, that's not fair... Only the winner gets to ask something.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm asking it outside of the game, then.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Sure, sure, damn rulebreaker...

 **Sakurauchi:** I like girls, though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** By girls, you mean...?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I've already told you I make Girls' Love games; wouldn't it be obvious after that?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** On that note, short girls are absolutely the cutest!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Especially when it's someone older who's embarrassed about that kind of height... hehe...

I find myself in agreement.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Have you ever had a girlfriend...?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Does 2D count?

I'm guessing that's a no.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it because of your family or...?

Asking these kinds of things is probably really weird, but I doubt an airhead like this would mind.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Nah, they wouldn't notice anything anyway.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** My mom's always busy trying to look after all of my siblings at once so she has her hands full at all times.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What about your dad?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Oh, they're divorced. I visit him sometimes but we're not super close or anything.

I wish that was me...

She lifts the controller she's been holding onto with a grin.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** So? Ready to continue?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Because I'm ready to destroy you again, Izumi-san.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Alright, I see how it is...

We continue playing the same way we did before for a good while, and I even manage to win some rounds this time around.

Good...! It'd be a bit too humiliating to lose so much against a girl...

We only part ways once we're both dead exhausted, and I head straight to the cafeteria to actually get something to eat, already thinking of various strategies I can use to beat her next time.

I hate to break this to Fujinomiya so early - by which I mean I am loving every second of it -, but I've got a pretty good handle on this alright. I can't wait until I get to shove my win in her smug face...

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

She's spent the entire morning in the arcade yet again, albeit by herself this time. I guess I should've expected that after how worked up she got about the whole thing, although I would've thought she'd want to drag someone else along. Maybe she's being especially considerate today... or maybe everyone else is already busy.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Sakurauchi-san...?

She raises her head immediately, of course.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Izumi-san? You should come play too!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Don't tell me you've been here all day long...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Aww, you can't expect me not to... This room is so well-equipped!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess that's true. What were you playing earlier?

I entered just as she finished, so technically I shouldn't have seen anything without watching her for a while.

Which, I mean, I did, but it's best to keep these things to yourself around people.

She gestures over her shoulder at the rhythm game behind her.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I've been trying to get a perfect score on the highest difficulty for a while now.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** It's pretty challenging, but I'm getting close. Soon enough I won't have to hold anger breaks because I broke my combo at the last moment.

Happens to all of us.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Oh yeah, do you wanna hold another competition? Although I'll probably kick your ass if we pick this one.

Something that I'd be better at... What would that be?

My gaze strays towards a familiar machine a bit further inside, and my eyes light up.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Have you tried one of the fighting games yet?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Oho? Not yet. It might be a fair pick in that case.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Hey, hey, what should we bet on? Should it be the same as last time?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I promise I'll think of a better question this time around if it is...!

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hey, don't think you'll win so easily this time around.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I really won't hold back this time around...!

**Sakurauchi Nao:** As if you even stand a chance.

We get to playing, and things actually go as I was hoping they would - I  _knew_ I could turn the odds in my favor if I just chose the right thing!

This time around the difference in scores isn't nearly as big as before - in fact, I manage to win the last 2 rounds somehow. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud.

Sakurauchi doesn't seem too bothered by it, though.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ahh, well... I was close.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I guess I'll just have to try harder next time.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** So, Izumi-san... what are you going to ask me?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Don't be shy, I don't bite. If it's something too private I'll just ask you to pick something else.

Good... I'd rather be spared from any possible physical abuse.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aw, man... Victory would be a lot sweeter if I'd thought of something beforehand.

She seems pretty amused by that for some reason.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Okay, this isn't an embarrassing question or anything, I'm just still curious after all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How come you decided to go with a look like that?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I mean, even aside from the contacts, with the whole fashion and all...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Huh...? You sure ask some weird questions, Izumi-kun.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Why... I guess I just thought it looked cool. I don't really tend to think too much about these things.

Or about anything, apparently...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Is it strange or something?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not really, I guess... I know girls who do that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I just thought it was interesting... probably.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Probably? You should know what you thought about it, right? Hehe...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I just tripped over my words, geez. It's hard to put it into words.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Your personality is a bit like that too. I guess it just feels a little... forced sometimes?

**Izumi Mamoru:** But it's not all that jarring, so maybe it's just me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't worry about it too much.

**Sakurauchi Nao:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah- sorry, should I not have said that?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Ehh-? No, it's fine, I just had to think for a moment...

**Izumi Mamoru:** So you just spaced out?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:**...Guess so...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** W-well, let's not worry too much about these things for now...!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** We have a lot more games to play, yes!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** What do you want to play next?

She's so insistent on acting normal it's kind of funny.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I guess I can let you pick this time. You know, since I destroyed you just now.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** That's not very nice, Izumi-san.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** You're just tempting me to be extra mean.

She walks back to the rhythm game she'd been playing earlier, placing her hands on her hips.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** It seems I don't mind playing this one after all.

Yeah,  _of course_ you'd pick that... But I guess I've already gotten my turn, so it's not all bad.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Sure, sure... If I still find a way to win, you're going to look really sad, you know.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Too bad that it's not going to happen. I won't go easy on you even if you're a beginner.

Whelp, there goes what was left of my dignity... I doubt I can turn this one around no matter how hard I try.

Still... I guess if I'm already going to lose either way, might as well try to go out with a bang.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Fine, I'll try my best.

As bothersome as this girl can be, if there's one thing I'm extremely pleased about, it's the activities. Now if only we could marathon something in the cinema... everything would be perfect.

I wonder if I should try to bring that up sometime... There's nothing wrong with trying to make your work more fun, right?

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I knock on her door, but I don't get a response at first - she's in there, though. I made sure to check beforehand. Maybe she juat didn't hear me?

I knock a few more times just in case, and she actually opens the door this time, albeit looking a tad hesitant.

So she was just ignoring me, huh... That's kind of rude, but okay.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Oh, Izumi-san... Hello.

She seems a bit distraught.

Maybe she's still thinking about what we discussed the last time.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Did something happen, Sakurauchi-san?

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Ah? No, not really.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You just seem a bit strange is all.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Do I...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I've been trying to figure some things out, I guess.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** But I can still go to the arcade with you, if you want.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is there any way I could help you out?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Oh, you don't have to worry.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I've come to a conclusion of some kind.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** Uhm, if we're going to talk about this, you should come in. I'd feel bad if you had to stand outside the entire time.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah- Okay then.

She gestures for me to sit down once I'm inside, and I pick a chair randomly with a small shrug.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is this about what we talked about last time?

**Salurauchi Nao:** How did you know?

**Izumi Mamoru:** You seemed a bit lost on thought the first time I brought it up so I had to wonder.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I see...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I didn't mean for it to be such a big deal, though.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I know, I know...!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** The fact that I didn't really think of it much before bothered me a lot more...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I mean... I don't think I was pretending or anything.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** B-but, you know, there's no point in trying to simplify people like that in the end!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'd be a very one dimensional character if I only acted one way all the time.

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I... was not expecting an actual explanation.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** You meanie...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I think the reason I ended up like this is probably my family after all, but it doesn't feel like it doesn't fit... y'know?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I don't think I should've been worried about it in the first place.

Decided to go with the easy route, eh?

That's probably right, though - or at least I can't really think of any way to argue with that.

Although if I wanted to be special, I'd just get a girlfriend.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's fair.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I guess I should be sorry for bringing it up in the first place.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Should you? I feel like it's over now so it shouldn't really matter.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Relax, relax!

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm relaxed, Sakurauchi-san.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Good!

**Sakurauchi Nao:** I do feel a little bad, though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why...?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Because...!

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** You helped me figure all this stuff out in a way, but I still have no idea what your talent could be.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I wanna help you out too...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Help me out...? I'm not incredibly concerned with it...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It might be better if we focus on more important things at the moment.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like finding a way out...

**Sakurauchi Nao:** That's easy to say... I don't really know how we'd do that.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** There's still that one locked room... If we could get that open, that'd be nice.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe the key is hidden somewhere.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** Like where...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't know yet, but... it'd make sense for it to be somewhere on the ship.

**Izumi Mamoru:** We can go look for it to see if we can find it.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** But someone might be using it, right? Maybe they're carrying it on themselves.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Good point. I don't really know what to do then...

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** If only that laptop from the cinema would work...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You tried using it?

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I was hoping I'd be able to find something useful on it, yeah. It seemed to be broken though.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** It's kinda disappointing...

Huh... I don't think that was supposed to be like that. Fujinomiya must've done something.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...Let's look for the key after all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if we don't find it, we have nothing to lose.

**Sakurauchi Nao:** ...Okay.

She crosses her arms as she nods her head several times.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** I'm good at finding traps, so you can count on me, Izumi-san.

 **Sakurauchi Nao:** We can brag to everyone if we find it!

My hand slips into my pocket, and I trace a familiar key card with the tip of my finger.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's the spirit.

She beams before she helps me to my feet, already listing the places she wants to search.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Sakurauchi's Undergarments**

****

They seem more like shorts than underwear, but the pattern is very much fitting. They appear to have fake pockets on the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is rena :0


	38. The seamstress

**You have selected: Tsutsui Rena**

I guess she should be fine... She's probably the least loud, which is already a huge point in her favor.

I wonder if I can get her to take off her mask... I know how she looks, but it's tempting nevertheless. That might even make it even more tempting, to be honest.

She's... a special case, though. She's rather friendly to everyone from what I know, but charity cases are like magnets for her. I guess I kind of get that... she's a girl after all.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Excuse me, could I have your name?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Kya-!

**Tsutsui Rena:** ...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Are you alright?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Geez, you scared me... I thought it was a demon or something...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** A demon?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** ...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** So...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A-ahh, my name?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's Izumi Mamoru...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** N-nice to meet you, uhm...

**Tsutsui Rena:** Tsutsui Rena.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm a seamstress, so please come to me if any of your clothes rip or tear.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I promise I'll try my best to repair it.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** What's your talent, by the way?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Mine...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I, uhm... I actually don't remember, so...

**Tsutsui Rena:** You don't remember?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Oh, dear... I hope you'll recall soon, then.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Maybe you should have a check up with Natsume-chan to make sure you're not injured anywhere.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Natsume-kun...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A-ahaha, it's okay, I'm sure it's nothing serious...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure Natsume-kun will look for me later...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Please don't.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Is something wrong with Natsume-chan?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** H-he's so creepy touching everyone like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wonder if there's any police here...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wonder if I can file a restraining order...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm sure Natsume-chan means well, don't be like that...

**Tsutsui Rena:** We just need to ask him nicely! He's always listened so far.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** H-has he really? I don't know about that...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** There's no reason to be so negative.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's what you think...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Let's go to Natsume-chan to ask him right now! I'll go with you, so you don't have to be nervous.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** T-there's really no need! I'll ask him later, then, is that good? Is that better?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Are you sure?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes, yes...!

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Okay then...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You... Why are you dressed like that...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Oh, I just think the outfit is cute.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Is that a problem?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I- I guess not...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What about the mask?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Ah...

**Tsutsui Rena:** I'm just a bit shy is all.

Yeah, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think shy is drastic enough of a word.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I think it looks rather nice, though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Did... Did you make your clothes yourself...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Yes! I spent much more time deciding on a hat than the dress though.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Accessories and toys are much more fun to make.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Toys...? Like dolls ?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Dolls and plushies, yes.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I really love making stuffed animals...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** If you have a request for me, don't hesitate to ask.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I don't mind making clothes either, of course!

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm sure I can find a sewing kit somewhere.

**Izumi Mamoru:** A sewing kit, huh... There m-might be something in the store.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Oh, that's true! I'll go look over there later.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Thank you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No problem...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** By the way... you wouldn't happen to know where Nakajima-chan has gone, would you? Or Minamoto-chan?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Huh...? I don't think so.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why? Are you searching for them?

**Tsutsui Rena:** They seemed kind of nervous around everyone else, so I was thinking I'd make sure they're okay.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I was a bit worried about Fujinomiya-chan before, but it seems like Sakurauchi-chan is already taking care of her.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I'm thinking of spending some time together later since it seems like we'll be stuck here for a while.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You should join us, Izumi-chan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I think I'd rather not...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Are you sure? I'd bring sweets.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Who doesn't like sweets?

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I haven't even talked to the other two yet anyway...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You should introduce yourself to them, then.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** They don't bite, don't worry. Nakajima-chan is a bit grumpy, but I can tell he doesn't mean anything mean he says.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or maybe I can just hide in my room...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That won't solve anything, Izumi-chan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Neither will talking.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Just how stubborn can you be?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like it's any of your business...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Perhaps not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you so insistent?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm just curious about you is all.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Is that such a crime?

Nice excuse, but I know you just can't stay away from people you feel sorry for. It's kind of patronizing, in a way...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe it is.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I don't bite either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's not the point...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not... you, I mean... you're acting a bit troublesome, but it's n-not because of that.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Then what is it...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Please just forget about it...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** ...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Well, if you won't tell me now, I'll just ask you some other time.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Do go on, now, while everyone else is still nearby.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Good luck!

She clasps her hands together, waiting for me to get going.

Whelp, that's that for now, then. She really is the persistent type, huh...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

It took quite a bit of time for her to find me again - I could tell she was looking, I mean, she's not exactly subtle about these things -, but once she did, she immediately had to rush after me.

I wonder if this is what mother ducks do when their children get lost.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Izumi-chan! I've been looking for you!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Eek-!

**Tsutsui Rena:** Ah, sorry, did I scare you?

**Izumi Mamoru:** P-please at least give a warning first if you're going to run at someone like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I almost had a heart attack.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm sorry.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** B-but anyway, why were you looking for me?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If it's about Natsume-kun, I still don't want to-

**Tsutsui Rena:** Not at all, not at all. I was just wondering if you wanted to spend some time together.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You... You went looking for me just for that...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Is that a problem?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** If you're worried about other people, there's no need - it'll only be me and you.

 **Tsutsui Rena:**  Everything is going to be just fine, Izumi-chan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's easy for you to say...

**Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Where would we go...? Hypothetically, if I agreed, that is...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I was thinking of just having some snacks in the cafeteria.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Takahashi-chan baked some pastries earlier, and he left quite a few for people to take.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Well? What do you think?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I suppose it's a viable option...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You can... go ahead, I'll follow you.

Her eyes sparkle.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Wonderful!

She starts walking at a comfortable pace, and I follow behind her leisurely, hands in my pockets. I wouldn't say sweets are my favourite things ever, but might as well eat whatever for a change - if I do gain weight, it won't carry over.

...I wonder if I could ask Shironeko to make my avatar even slimmer...

Once we've arrived she goes off into the kitchen to grab plates and utensils herself; I kind of just shrug when she asks me what I'd prefer to drink. I'm not sure if it's because she's worried about me running off or what, but she ends up just quickly grabbing a pair of glasses with some milk instead of making something for herself.

Or maybe she doesn't really care about the drink either.

**Tsutsui Rena:** You don't know sign language; do you?

I can't tell if she's used to it.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Is that bad?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's not bad, just...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I need both hands to eat.

Ah.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Huh...? How come?

She points at her mask.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** ...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Can't you just take it off if it's in the way, then...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** The... mask, I mean...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** ...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I suppose I could...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Would you prefer not to...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** N-not that that's any of my business...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like I'd mind not talking...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** But I'd still like to talk...

She thinks it over for a bit before she finally makes her mind up with a sigh.

**Tsutsui Rena:** ...I'll take it off just for you, Izumi-chan.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Consider this a special occasion.

She reaches behind her head, and it takes her a few seconds, but she finally removes her mask, gently placing it onto the table beside her plate.

She's not wearing any make up - I remember her face being caked in it the first time I saw her -, but she still looks quite nice. She's certainly prettier than the majority of the girls here.

**Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Is something wrong...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** N-no, it's nothing...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wasn't thinking anything weird...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Like how pretty you are and all...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I mean-

**Tsutsui Rena:**...

She chuckles silently.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Thank you. I haven't had the chance to put make up on, but I'm glad I look decent.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I-it's more than decent, if I have to be honest...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That's sweet of you.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to try Takahashi-chan's pastries instead of staring like that?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** They're really delicious! I tried some earlier; you can trust me.

She pops one into her mouth just as her phone finishes saying that, and she seems quite pleased.

I decide to try one, partially to see if Takahashi's baking really is as good as everyone is making it out to be, and partially because... well, it's a snack; why wouldn't I? It's actually pretty good - not the best I've ever had, but I'm not expecting some beanpole to measure up to a 5-star restaurant.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's good, right?

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Yeah.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Did... Takahashi-kun make all of these by himself...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** He said he often bakes for his sister, so he's pretty good at it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, I see...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I kind of get that. I'm kind of like that with my sister too.

**Tsutsui Rena:** You have a sister too? That must be nice...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do you not have one...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I used to have one. She died a year ago, though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, I'm sorry...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You don't have anything to apologise for, do you?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Don't worry about it, Izumi-chan.

Even if she says that, I can tell she doesn't really appreciate the topic.

Grow a pair, girl, you're not the only one with family angst.

She resumes munching on the food, presumably to take her mind off of the topic, and I stare at her for a while before I take another bite.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

The next time we meet surprisingly isn't because one of us quite literally ran into each other - which I'm extremely glad about -, but rather, it's the girl knocking on my door just an hour before nighttime.

She's back to wearing her mask this time around, but she doesn't seem like she's been crying or anything, so I'm going to assume everything's fine.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Tsutsui-san...? Do you have something to talk about this late?

**Tsutsui Rena:** I have something to give you, yes. I hope you don't mind me visiting you now...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I only just finished it so I couldn't have come sooner.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah...? I don't mind at all, but... what is it?

She holds a cat plushie out for me to take.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I know I said I'd be taking requests, but I couldn't help myself.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I wasn't sure what kind of animals you like, and I wanted to keep it a surprise so I couldn't ask you.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** But your jacket has cats on it, so I figured that would be a safe choice.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Are you... sure I can take this?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Shouldn't I pay for it...? I don't think I have anything to give you in return...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's a gift, silly; of course you don't have to pay for it.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** If you don't take it, I'll feel very hurt, you know.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Thank you.

I take the plushie she's been persistently holding out, and she seems just a little more cheerful than before.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm, also...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...This would sound kind of awkward out of nowhere, wouldn't it...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Anyway...! I'm, uh... I'm glad you're feeling better after last time.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I was... worried that I went overboard.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Don't worry about such a thing. Do you need me to remind you again that you did nothing wrong?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Tsutsui Rena:** More importantly...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I did what I came here to do, so if you'd rather sleep now, I don't mind. It  _is_ a tad late...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Ah, but if you'd prefer to chat for a bit, that's also alright.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm not exactly a night owl but I don't sleep too early either.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What would you prefer...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Y-you can't just expect me to decide by myself, right?

Her shoulders shake a tiny bit with silent laughter.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Let's see... I still have a couple of things that I'd like to do, but it's not like I'm in any rush.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I suppose I could stay for a while.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You wouldn't mind, would you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wouldn't... mind, no. I'm not really sure what we could do, though.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** We could just talk! It's enjoyable enough for me.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Unless you'd prefer to do something more fun...?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah- No, talking is fine.

I step to the side after a few seconds of awkwardly staring at each other.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Come on in, then...

She enters with her hands clasped, spinning around briefly so she can check the entire room. It's nothing special, really - and I made sure to put away everything that might've seemed suspicious beforehand, so I'm not really worried.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm glad to see you take time to clean and organize your room.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Huh? Isn't that normal?

**Tsutsui Rena:** Minamoto-chan's room was rather messy when I visited her. She said she was in the middle of working on an important piece, and reorganizing everything would end her inspiration.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** A piece...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Ah, I'm sorry. I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I'm happy to be here. Is that more appropriate?

It sounds... extremely awkward, but I guess the tone of the text-to-speech makes it much worse than it's supposed to be.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess so...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So, uhm... what did you want to talk about?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I didn't think about it much before, but... how about you tell me about your sister?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A-are you sure...? Didn't that topic get you feeling really down last time?

**Tsutsui Rena:** It's okay, silly, I'm curious anyway.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** If you'd rather not talk about it, that's fine, but I like hearing these kinds of stories.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

****

**Tsutsui Rena:** So?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, well...

**Izumi Mamoru:** She's younger than me - have I said that yet?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I cut her hair and cook for her since she's really clumsy.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Uhm... She really likes dolls.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Me too!

**Izumi Mamoru:** I knew that.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You sound like you get along really well.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess we do, yeah. We don't really fight.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That's lovely...

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Tsutsui-san...? Are you alright?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I told you we shouldn't have picked this topic...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Ah? No, I'm okay.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Objections aren't allowed. Let's talk about something more cheerful.

**Tsutsui Rena:**...Silly.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That goes both ways right now.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Maybe...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Well, I apologise for dragging the mood down. I'll take you up on your offer.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I know! Would you like to hear about my apartment?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Your apartment...? Do you live by yourself?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** My parents bought it back when I was still small.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** They're overseas a lot because of their jobs so they let us have a place of our own.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Isn't that a bit irresponsible?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's alright, the maid cleans the place every week.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You have a maid? Your parents must be rich...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You think so?

It seems like that made her laugh a little - she brushes some of her hair to the side.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I guess you could say that. We're not billionaires or anything though.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Even though that sounds like it could be fun.

She seems like she's back to her regular self, so I drop the whole sister topic completely for now.

I should remember it for later... It doesn't seem like she's reluctant to talk about it.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

We've been talking for a while now - not in my room this time, which... I guess I should be glad about -, and I guess it's been kind of fun...? She  _is_ really damn cute... and she's not nearly as annoying as some girls can be.

I'd consider her a viable romantic interest if I didn't need to focus on other things right now.

**Tsutsui Rena:** You were an honors student? That's supposed to be pretty amazing, I think!

**Izumi Mamoru:** I- I'm flattered, but... why do you sound so uncertain?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Oh, I don't really know much about schools and all.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I was homeschooled up until I got invited to Hope's Peak Academy.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** The more I hear about you, the more you sound like some kind of noble...

**Tsutsui Rena:** Dear me, that's not it at all! My parents are just very successful at what they do.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What do they do anyway?

**Tsutsui Rena:** I'm not quite sure. We don't really talk that much.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I believe they're businessmen of some sort, but that's about everything I know.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You really don't talk much to them, huh...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Isn't it kind of lonely like that?

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's always been like this for me, so I'm not really sure.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I lived with my sister before... It might have been better back then.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** No, it definitely was.

**Tsutsui Rena:** But I have no money troubles, and I should be able to find myself a proper job.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It would be ungrateful of me to be dissatisfied with this much...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Even if they can't spend much time with me, I appreciate everything my parents have done for me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** There's a lot more to life than just having a job and money though...

**Tsutsui Rena:** You're right, of course, but we can't have everything.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm already better off than a lot of other people.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** And... I want to believe I can find something I  _want_ to live for as long as I keep searching for it.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I'm already happy that I managed to get to know everyone here.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I never really had any proper friends... but I kept wishing for it.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** To have something like that come true bit by bit makes me truly glad to be alive right now.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...You're a weird one.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Most people wouldn't be satisfied with just this much.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That might be true.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Even I have more things I want...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I want to fall in love. I want to marry someone, and I want to have kids.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I want to keep making people happy by giving them handmade gifts.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** But somehow I feel like I'd be happy even if those things didn't come true.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Because you have friends now?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Perhaps!

She giggles - but this time around, it's audible. It's not loud or anything, but I definitely heard that, and she recoils shyly for a second.

**Tsutsui Rena:**...Apologies for that.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you apologising...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I just kind of felt like I had to. I'm not sure.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** More importantly... I didn't know you have a voice.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's good, at least. That means you might be able to talk after all, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't know much about these things, but I hope it'll turn out well for you at least...

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, uhm, did I say something wrong...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...No, that's not it.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It's just a bit of a complicated topic.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** The reason why you can't talk, you mean?

**Tsutsui Rena:**...Yes. I don't want to give you strange ideas, Izumi-chan, but it's not really a story that you'd want to listen to.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'm not even sure if I'm ready to recount it just yet... I think I might need time to prepare myself for it.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I do hope I didn't disappoint you too much.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I- no, of course not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're not obligated to share it... You're not obligated to do anything, actually, it's alright.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I understand privacy very well.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You're much too considerate...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Am I...?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Worrying about me like that... You must have your own issues to deal with, you should be focusing on those.

**Tsutsui Rena:** I would hate to be a burden.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But... you're not a burden.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** It makes me very happy that you don't think that, but it doesn't change how I feel about it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Tsutsui Rena:** You still don't remember your talent, right?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'll see if I can find a way to help you figure it out.

**Izumi Mamoru:** My talent? But... how?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Memory loss isn't easily reversible, is it?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Maybe not... but I don't think simply giving up is what we should be doing.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Nakajima-chan and Minamoto-chan are both quite smart... or at least knowledgeable in the latter's case.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I'll see if they can come up with anything that might help you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Thank you, Tsutsui-san. Let me know if I can do anything for you in exchange.

She doesn't look like she  _wants_ me to return the favor, but she ends up agreeing to it anyway.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I stare at the ceiling with unfocused eyes, mumbling under my breath over and over.

I suppose I feel restless... It's rather hard to stay still and just wait when you've already made so much progress.

Still, I know I shouldn't be impatient, so I simply continue lazing around, even kind of drifting off to sleep at one point, only waking up to the sound of a knock on my door.

I wonder if it's time yet...

I get up to open the door, and the amount of relief almost makes me break character for a moment.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah- Tsutsui-san...

**Tsutsui Rena:** You seem kind of tired. Did I come at a bad time?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** N-no, not at all. I just woke up from a nap.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** A nap, hmm?

She seems somewhat amused.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I talked to Nakajima-chan about what we talked about last time.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** He didn't sound like he knew too much about it, but he did have a few ideas.

 

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** What's with that reaction?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not sure... I feel a bit nervous, I guess.

**Tsutsui Rena:** It's okay. You'll be fine.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...I know that...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Would you like to talk for a bit beforehand to help you calm down, maybe?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Please.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Alright then.

I let her come inside, and she ends up sitting down onto the bed - legs closed, back straight. She seems pretty serious - understandably so.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:**...I'm not sure what to talk about...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Perhaps you could tell me what makes you feel so worried, then. I might be able to help that way.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm already used to being an outcast...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I don't wanna start being hopeful just to end up losing it all again.

**Izumi Mamoru:** If... If I don't have a talent, it might be better to not know about that at all.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Even if you don't have a talent... that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** There's more to people than just the things they're good at.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I promise you nobody would think anything of it, Izumi-chan. Everyone here is kindhearted deep inside.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...It's no use, this is just making me more nervous.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sorry for being such a pain...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Please don't talk about yourself like that...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's... okay, this is to be expected.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I haven't been able to help you with anything... not with your voice, nor with anything else.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** This isn't fair at all...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** My voice isn't just a simple problem...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Neither is my talent, is it?

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That's true, but...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I don't think a story like that would cheer you up right now.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not going to force you, so if you don't want to tell me, it can't be helped.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** But being cheered up isn't the reason I want to know anyway.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I want to help... I'm just not sure how.

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...If you're sure...

She reaches for her mask to remove it - to make the confession more genuine, I guess. It's supposed to be a pretty important thing to her, right?

**Tsutsui Rena:** You're the first person I'm ever telling this story, so... please be patient if I fumble.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** There are a few other people who know about it, of course... and I know it was in the news at one point, but...

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** So... you already know how I used to live just with my sister for a while.

**Tsutsui Rena:** That day... it was storming outside, so suspicious noises and whatnot went more easily ignored.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I don't blame anyone uninvolved for what happened... but I have to admit it's rather frustrating.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** At the time of the incident my sister and I were playing hide and seek, and I ended up hiding inside the closet.

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

 **Tsutsui Rena:** There was a break-in that day.

She starts to type, but has to pause after a second, staring at her screen with her lips pressed together tightly.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Tsutsui-san...? If it's too hard to say, then-

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I watched my sister get shot right in front of me.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I couldn't move at all. I was too scared to speak, to breathe, to even flinch.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I barely remember anything else of the incident, but this was burned into my memory.

**Tsutsui Rena:** Ever since then...

Her hand trembles, and she ends up with only half a sentence, pressing the wrong button by accident. She lets her arms drop to her sides as she breathes in and out slowly, shaking just a little. I'm not sure if she's holding back tears, or if simply remembering made her feel scared.

She picks herself back up soon enough - at least on the surface.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** That's the whole story.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** I've been trying to learn to speak again, but I just can't.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Do you really think you can help with something like that...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's terrible...

**Tsutsui Rena:** I ended up telling you after all... I'm not sure if that was a good idea.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I... don't want you to feel like it was a mistake.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** You're too kind.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not sure how I can help you yet, but... I'm going to try.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you're going to help me with my talent... I'm going to help you with this.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Research is one thing I'm good at... I think. I'll do my best to figure something out.

 **Tsutsui Rena:** Isn't it too much trouble for you?

**Izumi Mamoru:** What are you talking about, Tsutsui-san?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** We're friends, aren't we?

 **Tsutsui Rena:**...

**Tsutsui Rena:** I suppose so.

Her smile this time isn't forced like before, and she grips her phone a little tighter - in hopefulness, I imagine.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Tsutsui's Undergarments**

****

The pure white color of them may very well be the last piece of innocence this girl is trying to hold onto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one girl left ay  
> next up is first victim-chan, who will,, also be very special in several ways


	39. The attorney

 

**You have selected: Yokoyama Hiromi**

I didn't really think about it too much when I picked her - I guess she just seems like the type to lecture people in a "back in my days" manner. Nyahaha...

She's pretty loud, but only if you piss her off, and I'm pretty sure I can get around that considering she only seems to lose her composure with rude or improper people.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Do you have a minute?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'd like an introduction, if possible.

She has the kind of face that says she just yelled at someone right before me and is still trying to calm down.

**Izumi Mamoru:**  Sure thing.

**Izumi Mamoru:**  My name is Izumi Mamoru. I'm afraid I don't remember my talent at the moment; I apologise.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  You don't remember your talent? That's... strange.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I know...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  There's not much I can do about it, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I'll understand if you consider me suspicious, but please go easy on me.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...Yeah, of course...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  Your name...?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Ah- My name, yes...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** My name is Yokoyama Hiromi, and I'm an attorney.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Pleased to meet you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, you're an attorney? That's an interesting talent.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...I suppose so...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Say, Yokoyama-san... You wouldn't happen to know how we ended up here, would you?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Do you mean this ship?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** No, I've absolutely no idea.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** My best guess is a case of kidnapping, but even then, there are a bit too many of us.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's suspicious, to say the least. If this is a kidnapping, it's not the kind you'd normally hear about on the news.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Unless we all simultaneously suffered collective amnesia or something...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Ah, so you don't know anything either...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I asked around before, but it didn't seem like anyone else was any better.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Let's hope it's nothing serious.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's still possible it's just something related to the school.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I guess that's a good point.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'll keep it in mind.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** In the meantime, don't you have any kind of ideas about what your talent might be?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Or if there's anything else you've forgotten about...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Although I guess that might not be any use in me trying to figure this out.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I know next to nothing about memory loss.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You don't have to fix it yourself, Yokoyama-san, it's fine.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I do hope it will turn out well, but you won't be responsible if it doesn't improve.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** As for your questions... There are certain things that are also quite hazy, but none of them are really anything big.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** You did remember your own name after all...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yes, I remember everything important apart from my talent, I believe.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Well, that's good...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm flattered you're so concerned, please don't worry so much.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...If you say so...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I apologise for overstepping my boundaries, in that case.

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like you have to apologise. You didn't do anything wrong, right?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Of course I need to apologise. Manners are important.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So formal...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's good that you're trying to be polite, but I think you can loosen up a little in this kind of a situation.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...Even if you say that, I still believe first impressions are incredibly important.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** As well as the image you project in general...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'd prefer not to come off as rude, if possible.

From what I know you've already done that to several other people though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I doubt something like this would have a drastic impact on what people think of you, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Most people probably wouldn't even notice it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Your professional attitude is admirable, but it would make things much easier for yourself if you were just a little more laidback.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it because of your talent?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** My... talent?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** No, I don't think that has anything to do with it.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I've just been raised this way.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If it's  _bothersome_ , I can try to adjust it slightly so it's more appropriate, but...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not bothersome at all, no.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Please don't worry so much.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Okay, I'll believe you.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** More importantly, how much of the ship have you seen?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Me? I've only really been to the first two floors.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I see...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I was going to ask you if you could find anything that could be used as an exit, but I suppose it would be better if I looked myself.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Before that, though, I have one last question.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Yes?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** How many people have you seen around here so far?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** How many...? I'm not really sure; I haven't been counting.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If I had to guess, I'd say around 10.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Hmm... Thank you.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** There might still be some people around that I haven't talked to, in that case.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Is there anything else you'd like to ask me? We can talk later too, of course, but I want to have a proper grasp on the situation first.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...I don't think so.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Good luck with everything.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**...Thank you.

And with that, she walks off, her heels clicking on the ground.

See? I knew that wouldn't be so bad as long as I acted polite and proper; she's that easy-to-read kind of person in that regard.

I guess I should go look for her later... For now I'll just let her do her thing.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

With set meal times and all, it's a given that we'd meet up there sooner or later as long as neither of us arrives early - and we do quite a few times. She always prepares her own food, even when Takahashi is the one cooking, which is curious, to say the least.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...What is it? Do I look strange?

**Izumi Mamoru:**  Huh? Where did you get that idea?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  It's just that you've been staring at me for a while... unless I'm imagining things.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise it.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  So something _is_  strange after all...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I've just been wondering about something.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Why don't you ever eat anything Takahashi-kun prepares us?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I could understand if it was just a dish or two that you don't like, but...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Ah, it's just that?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  There's really no big story behind it; I prefer when my food is prepared a specific way, and I can't just ask Takahashi-kun to make a separate meal for me.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm... not very good at cooking, but I'm still trying to eat well.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I see...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  If you think it might be too much for Takahashi-kun, you could just ask me.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  You can cook, Izumi-kun?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  It's nothing spectacular, but yes.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I have quite a bit of free time here as well, so I wouldn't mind cooking for you at all.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I see...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Well, if you've already offered... it'd be impolite not to take you up on that offer.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Thank you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  It's no problem.

She fidgets for a moment.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm almost done eating, though, so... let's leave that for later.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Yes, that's what I thought.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Are there any dishes you especially like in particular?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I haven't checked if we have any seafood here yet...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I like sashimi a lot, and grilled fish is very nice as well.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  We're on a ship, aren't we?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  We could just catch more fish if we don't have the kind you like.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  H-huh? How would we do that?

She sounds genuinely baffled.

**Izumi Mamoru:**  That... was a joke.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Ah-!

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I apologise... I didn't realise.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Haha...

She quickly finishes her food and glass of tea, placing her hands in her lap afterwards as she hunches forward.

She's really embarrassed, huh...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  B-but I see, I see, that makes sense!

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Freshly caught fish like that must taste really delicious...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  It would suit sashimi a lot more, wouldn't it?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Yes...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  ...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  If you've finished eating, why don't we go somewhere else?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Yes, good idea...!

She stands up perhaps a little too fast before she clears her throat.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Where would you like to go, Izumi-kun?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Me? I'm not sure, if you ask me so suddenly like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  What about you? Is there a specific place where you'd rather be?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm... not sure either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  What kind of things do you like to do?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...Reading, I guess. That's not exactly a group activity though.

She lets out a sigh.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I don't have much time to relax these days... I don't know if I can think of anything else.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  You sure are hardworking.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  You must be rather passionate about your talent.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...No, it's not like that.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  It's not that I enjoy doing what I do... It's simply a necessity.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  My parents are both hardworking individuals, and I respect them immensely.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I want to become a person I can be proud of like that...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  But why did you become an attorney, then? Isn't it something you chose?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I did choose it, yes. As for why, though... It's a bit of a personal story.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  If you're uncomfortable with telling me, you don't have to.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...Thanks.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  To tell you the truth, I was rather worried about what kind of classmates I'd end up with... but most of you here seem well-intentioned.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm glad...

**Izumi Mamoru:**  Ah, I agree with that. Everyone seems to be getting along for the most part too.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  ...I'd still prefer to have a talk with Chiba-kun though.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm not sure if I'm the one who acted improperly, but I'd like to clear it up either way.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I admit I was rather stressed when we first met as well so I may have gone overboard...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm worried...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  If you're that torn up about it, you should express it to Chiba-kun. I'm sure he'll understand.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  You- You think so?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  If you believe that's the right action for me to take... alright then

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'll try my best...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I'm glad to hear that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  To return to the previous topic... Let's go to the theater. If you're okay with that, that is.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  I saw all kinds of props the last time I went there; I kind of want to check them out again.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Would that be fine with you?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'm okay with that, yeah... I don't think I ever got a good look at that room.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Should we go right now?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**  Sure. I'll lead the way; please follow me.

And she does, albeit having to walk a tiny bit faster thanks to her short stature.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

Somehow we end up in the theater yet again, even after having visited it once already.  _I_ don't really mind it, it's just a little strange that she'd suggest such a place herself. Or maybe she still doesn't have any better places so she's decided to go with my original idea.

She ends up tripping on the stairs in her heels though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yokoyama-san-? Are you okay?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Y-yes, I'm fine... I don't see a bruise or anything.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You should be a bit more careful in those kinds of shoes; I wouldn't want you getting hurt.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or... wouldn't it be better to wear something else for the time being?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I know there are shoes in the clothes store as well, and it must be kind of inconvenient to have to wear heels all the time.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'd... like to keep wearing them though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What for?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's a girl thing. I don't think you'd understand it.

You're just adding to your height, aren't you? I think I can understand that pretty easily, actually.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Alright...?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**...I'll just walk slower; I should be fine like that.

Whatever helps you sleep at night.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Alright, if you say so.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** By the way, I've been kind of wondering about something else too...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Your hair... Doesn't it bother you when it obstructs your view like that?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** My hair...? It  _is_  kind of troublesome...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'd cut it for myself if I knew how, but I'd rather just leave it as it is than mess it up.

 ****

**Izumi Mamoru:** I see...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Would you want me to cut it for you?

**Izumi Mamoru:** I wouldn't mind, at least. It'd make things easier for you, right?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I can't possibly accept an offer like that without something to offer in exchange, though.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** You've already offered to cook for me, after all.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'll just have to figure out how to solve it on my own.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Maybe I'll wait until we get out of here and find a hairdresser.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Are you sure? I guess it's fine if you won't change your mind, but...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Yes, definitely.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** But don't think I'm not grateful. I appreciate it nevertheless.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Thank you.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Alright, if you're sure...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You have very strong convictions, don't you?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I pride myself on them, yes.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I hope I didn't offend you or aything.

**Izumi Mamoru:** No, not really. I'm a little disappointed, but that can't be helped.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'll keep the offer open in the meantime, though, so feel free to come to me if you end up changing your mind.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'll keep that in mind.

I notice just now that we've been standing in the same place to chat the entire time, so I resume walking, poking my head into the storage.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** On another note... everything is still here. Neat!

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** You really like these kinds of things, huh...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's mainly the quality of the replicas; it's rare to find something  _this_  well-made.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Do you think it's possible your talent is related to this somehow?

**Izumi Mamoru:** My talent...? I haven't thought about that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess it's a possibility.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What kind of a talent would that be though...?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Unfortunately I don't think I can guess that.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Still, I think it's worth looking into. If you really do enjoy spending time here, you might want to do some further research.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I could help you out, if you like. The library may be a good place to find information.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm... grateful for the offer, but that might end up being too boring and monotone for you in the end.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Time is one thing we're not short on here; I'll check the library later myself.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Even though you wanted me to take you up on your offer earlier?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I won't insist, but be sure that you can come to me for advice anytime at the very least.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Understood, Yokoyama-san.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Ahh, I wish the people at my previous school had been like this too...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's almost unnerving to not be so stressed out all the time.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Surely, that's an exaggeration...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** It kind of is, and it's kind of not. I admit I'm starting to get just a bit too comfortable here...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I might get used to this kind of atmosphere sooner or later.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Was your previous school really that bad?

****

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Bad doesn't even begin to describe it - but I suppose the root cause of that is the faulty system itself.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** The teachers' behavior was very shameful as well...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's adults like this that cause people to end up as criminals.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Children need proper upbringing; if you just let them bully and attack each other they'll grow up thinking that it's alright, and continue doing it out in the real world.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I have a very strong sense of morality thanks to my parents, so I'm confident I won't end up like them no matter what.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If nothing else, that  _is_  one thing I have faith in.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I hope... you guys are like that too.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I want to believe that you are, at least. I want to believe that you're all strong enough to remain good people no matter what.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That was... quite the speech.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I- I just said how I feel is all!

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Don't poke fun at my honest feelings...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not doing that.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** G-good!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You just sounded so sincere, I felt kind of amazed.

She tugs on her sleeves with pouty lips, still somewhat flustered but also visibly flattered about the statement.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** How did you learn to do so many things anyway?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Like cooking and cutting hair and whatnot...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I haven't met many boys who are good at these things, much less capable of so many of them.

I turn away from the food I'm making to glance at her over my shoulder, making a low humming sound as I think it over.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I've been doing most of these things for my sister, so I suppose that might be why.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is it strange? I feel like when you're at this age you kind of need to know these things.

**Yokoyama** **Hiromi:** It's strange, but in a good way.

**Yokoyama** **Hiromi:** I'm no good at these kinds of things, even if I try my best, so...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'm kind of jealous too.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If only I wasn't so clumsy...

**Izumi Mamoru:** You're very smart, though, right? That's something to be proud of.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** With a talent like that, you must be.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Possibly...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'm not very smart with people, though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I don't think that many of us are either.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Still... Maybe I should ask someone to teach me how to talk to people better.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I've always been under the impression that being straightforward and honest is the good way, but it doesn't seem like that's completely correct in the end.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  Not that I blame my parents for that...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

She seems like she wants to say some more things, but she ends up keeping quiet.

**Izumi Mamoru:** What's wrong...?

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Just remembering some things I thought I'd already gotten over.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I wish my brother was as reliable as you...

She breathes a soft sigh.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, you have a brother?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I have a no-good older brother, yes.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's... rather cold, coming from you.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** He has a criminal record; of course I can't forgive him easily.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...Not that I enjoy sharing this fact.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** He's no better than a simple criminal right now.

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** What did he do...?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...He got arrested for robbery.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Stupid brother...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'd never think of doing such a thing. I can't imagine how ashamed my parents must have been...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'll show him what he could've become if he hadn't chosen to go down such a road.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**  I'll work hard and prove myself.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'll make my parents proud.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...That's an admirable goal.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Why... do you sound so strange...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Do I?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Did I say something wrong?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...No, you didn't. 

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It just sucks to be able to relate.

Having scumbag parents is much worse, though... You can bear this much, love.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...I'm sorry for bringing up a topic like this.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I felt like I had to get that off my chest once I was ready to speak about it.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, don't apologise... It's understandable.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm glad you trusted me enough to be able to tell me.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Of course I do...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If you didn't take this the wrong way... I'm glad, then. The last thing I'd want to do is offend you unintentionally.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...Thank you.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I know you have good intentions; you don't have to worry about that with me.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** That means a lot.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's strange... It's rare for me to feel at ease so much during conversations.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I wonder why that could be.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm flattered.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** You may want to focus on the food again... It might go bad if we leave it out like that for so long.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Huh? Ah, don't worry about that. It wouldn't spoil in such a short amount of time.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** That was a joke.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Oh.

Touché.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I might return the favor sometime.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If I can learn to cook in time, that is...

**Izumi Mamoru:** It's not that hard if you have a competent teacher.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I could teach you sometime, if you like. We have plenty of ingredients here anyway.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** That sounds like it could be kind of fun...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yeah, that's the spirit!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe we could invite Takahashi-kun as well. You'd like to improve your relationship with everyone else, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm sure Takahashi-kun wouldn't mind spending time together, so he would be a good starting point for you to gain confidence as well.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Takahashi-kun, huh...

**Izumi Mamoru:** What's with that kind of a reaction...? Do you not get along?

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** No, we do. I was just hoping for... something different, I suppose.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** You don't have to worry too much about it.

I feel like I know what it is, and I don't want to acknowledge it when it's coming from a midget like that.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** If you're making my favourite dish, I'll learn how to make yours.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'm not sure if I'll manage, but I'll try my best nevertheless, so please be patient with me.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Even if I'm clumsy... I won't give up on it.

It sounds kind of comical when you talk about food so seriously like that though.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Understood, Yokoyama-san. I'll be looking forward to it.

She brushes some of her hair out of her eyes before she nods, looking very pleased with herself.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

Hearing a knock on my door is a tad confusing - I don' recall anyone telling me they'd visit me today -, but once I see who it is, things make a lot more sense.

I haven't really been expecting her to come by at a time like this, but it's not like I can just ignore her at this point, and she probably has something important to talk about if she's decided to come to my room so close to nighttime.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I was wondering if we could have a word or two.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yokoyama-san...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not really busy or anything, so I don't mind...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's rare to see you go out of your way to visit someone, though.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's not like I have any ulterior motives or anything. Don't worry about that.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I have a rather important matter to discuss, actually.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's about your talent.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Would- Would it be too much to ask of you to come to my room?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** About my talent...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I wouldn't mind, no... You have me quite curious.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Right, then... let's go.

She leads me to her room, and I don't bother locking mine - it could get troublesome if someone were to enter uninvited, but I've been careful enough about giving myself away, so I believe I should be fine.

Even if I mess up, Fujinomiya can cover for me.

As Yokoyama opens her door, she glances back at me for a moment before stepping inside, waiting by the doorstep afterwards. Apparently she's just too restless to sit down... or something.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I should've thought this through better...

She mumbles to herself as she closes the door after me, nervously tugging on her clothes and strands of her hair.

****

 

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...Right, about the matter at hand...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I came across Nakajima-kun and Fujinomiya-san earlier.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I've asked several people for their insight before, of course, but it didn't seem like they could come up with anything useful.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Nakajima-kun was rather rude, as expected, but he actually gave some valuable advice, so... I'm willing to look it over just this once.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** You remember how attached you were to the theater? I suspected that might be important, and most people I've asked have agreed about that.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Minamoto-san wrote me up a nice list about possible talents that could lead to as well a few days ago.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Even though I told you I wouldn't mind searching for information myself...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I couldn't help myself. I kept my word, though - I didn't look in the library.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course you'd find a loophole like that...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Regardless of whether or not your pride will allow you to, though, I would like you to listen to what I have to say.

She takes a few steps closer, arms crossed.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** It's not exactly a convenient method, but Nakajima-kun has let me know about a possible way to make you regain your memories.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** I wasn't quite sure if I should go ahead with it, since I'd rather not risk any kind of trouble, but... it doesn't seem like I have a choice.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yokoyama-san...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I've told you you don't have to strain yourself for this before...

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:**...I'm not straining myself, don't worry.

She takes another step forward.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** Please don't make any unnecessary moves.

Before I can even register what she's doing, she rushes forward, and the shock in my side is enough to cause me to fall forward.

I was not expecting her to be carrying a tazer...

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I do hope you'll forgive me for my underhanded methods. I'm not strong at all, so I had to find some way to temporarily immobilise you for the time being.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** You grow accustomed to resorting to such things once you've been a target so many times.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** You were close to fooling me, though... I can admit that.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If Fujinomiya-san wouldn't have thought of you as suspicious, I wouldn't have been determined to prove your innocence.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** If I wouldn't have had that kind of a desire, I wouldn't have set foot inside your room to investigate.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** And if I wouldn't have done that... I wouldn't have figured out your role at all. It's all quite simple, really.

**Yokoyama Hiromi:** I'm not going to hurt you, of course. By no means do I support the unnecessary use of brute force or violence.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** But I'm afraid an interrogation is in order nevertheless.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** Please do not resist... It will make things easier for the both of us if you just peacefully cooperate.

 **Yokoyama Hiromi:** This has been your warning.

**Event 5: Cleared...?**

**Item acquired: Yokoyama's Undergarments**

****

Despite what the design may have you believe, they're not from the kids' section; it seems they've been resized to fit her stature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand thats it for the ladies! im gonna start on the guys next so we will be changing up a few things :0c fufufu


	40. The waiter

I close my eyes, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed. I've been kind of wondering what I should do while Mamo-chan is messing around, and... while lazing around sounds kinda nice, while I  _know_ Mamo-chan won't catch up to me anytime soon, I can't help but want to make sure anyway.

Or perhaps it's just out of pride. I'm not going to overanalyze it.

Anyway... I'll just pick someone at random to occupy myself in the meantime.

* * *

 

 **You have selected:** **Akiyama Keiji**

I stifle a yawn and stretch my back as I lazily look around for the guy. I  _really_ don't like hoodies, but hell; it's not like I have a choice.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Excuse me, could we talk...?

Speak of the devil.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yeah, sure. What's up?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You want my name, right?

**Akiyama Keiji:** That and your talent, if you would.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mhm... sure.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** My name is Fujinomiya Kotori, but you can call me whatever you want. I'm a vocalist.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What about you?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Ah, I'm Akiyama Keiji. It's a pleasure to meet you.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I happen to be the Super High School Level Waiter.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** A waiter, huh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I hope that's not just a cover-up title for something more suspicious of a similar nature.

**Akiyama Keiji:** What are  _you_ thinking? Of course not.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I just work at my family's restaurant.

**Akiyama Keiji:** There's no use trying to find a deeper meaning to that, for there's none.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** What makes you think I'm trying to cover for myself anyway?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's the piercings, actually. Most places wouldn't possibly tolerate that, would they?

**Akiyama Keiji:** My piercings? Huh... I suppose that's not unlikely.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But I guess if your family owns the place, they set the rules.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Don't get me wrong; they were pretty furious with me when I came home wearing them.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I like to think we're past it by now, though. That is... I hope we are.

Yeah, you... might wanna ask your parents instead of just assuming things. But then again, I guess it's already too late for that.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** As for you... If you're a vocalist, what kind of music is your forte?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Or are you some kind of jack of all trades?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I suppose if it's a talent of this kind that could very well be possible.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can do all kinds of stuff, yeah, but I mainly just focus on pop.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** That's not really a bad pick either.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course it's not a bad pick. It's just a genre.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I didn't even really pick it myself - I joined this band and just kinda went along with whatever they told me to do.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** But you've been singing for a while even before that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep, that's right.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What about you, Akiyama?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Mmm... I don't really think there was a huge story behind it or anything either.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I started helping out back when I was just a kid, and it gradually turned into just what I do in my spare time.

**Akiyama Keiji:** It's pretty fun, though. Some customers can be a bit moro- I mean, rude, but it's pretty easy to hold back on them as long as I'm in work-mode.

Don't think I didn't notice that.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Besides, it can only be beneficial to develop your conversational skills every day in such a manner.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** If it was just a  _tad_ easier to apply everything I've learned there to real life, it'd make everything else a lot easier...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eehh... Are you the easy-to-piss-off type?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't look the part. But then again, I can't help but focus on the outfit a bit too much...

**Akiyama Keiji:** Well, what do  _you_ expect me to wear? It's a requirement to be well-dressed if your family's made a name for themselves.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** But I admit I can be pretty clumsy with self-control.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It can give me a bit of a headache at times.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It's rather hard to keep up the always polite work persona as well, no matter how hard I try, so it's somewhat inevitable that I slip up once or twice.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** While I'm rather proud and fond of my talent... I can't say I don't envy others who are allowed to relax more at times.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eh, it's probably better if you don't go punching people at random just because they annoy you. Just in general.

**Akiyama Keiji:** You really enjoy accusing me, don't you? I feel as though I should be more offended.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I may have done some regrettable things, but I'll have you know I've been at hard work to improve.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It may not be going as fast as I wish it was, but I'm by no means as bad as I was a year ago.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I was going to offer my services to you as proof, but... unfortunately it appears someone has already taken kitchen-duty.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** His name is Takahashi Yuki-kun, I believe.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I suppose I'll just have to satisfy myself with preparing the tables themselves.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good luck with that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess I should talk to everyone else, on that note, before they all run off somewhere by themselves.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll be good by yourself without me watching over you, yeah?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Naturally, Fujinomiya-san. Do feel free to have high expectations for me.

Oh, don't worry - that'll never happen.

He leisurely walks off by himself in the opposite direction of the kitchen for now, making a point to peer back at me with a somewhat smug smirk.

You do you, buddy.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

**Akiyama Keiji:** Fujinomiya-san!

Ah... he spotted me anyway. I was hoping he wouldn't try to talk to me just yet - being a morning person is  _extremely_ tiring -, but apparently I'm completely out of luck. Figures...

**Akiyama Keiji:** Good morning. Did you sleep well last night?

You  _really_ wanna know about that, don't you? Christ...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It was alright. The bed was comfy enough.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Had breakfast yet?

**Akiyama Keiji:** A-ahh, about that...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It seems I won't be welcome in the kitchen without supervision for a while.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, what do you know? Looks like i was right about not being able to leave you alone without trouble.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So? What did you do?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** The teasing is rather uncalled for...

**Akiyama Keiji:** About what happened, though...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It really wasn't such a huge issue, I just... happened to come across some alcohol.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then what? You drank it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aren't we all underage here?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I- I didn't drink it, no.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I admit it was a little tempting to try it, but this really isn't the time for me to do such a thing...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Besides, I know more than anyone how much trouble it causes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then why were you banned if you didn't end up drinking it?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Hayama-san saw me eyeing up the bottle and thought I was acting suspicious.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I feel kind of insulted...

**Akiyama Keiji:** Right now, I'd only drink alcohol if the situation called for it.

What kind of a situation would that even be...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You say that like you do that pretty often.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Not... often, no. Only at times.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I happen to have a rather low tolerance, though, so I tend to refrain quite a lot.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I've been told I can get a tad violent as well, which is obviously not ideal.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I do hope you believe me now when I say I wouldn't be so irresponsible in this kind of a situation.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I believed you from the start, though.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Ah... I see.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** When did you start drinking anyway?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Only a year or two ago, I suppose. As I said, though, it's not like I do it often.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I happened to get involved with the wrong crowd and did a lot of things that I ended up regretting.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Fortunately my parents snapped me out of it before it got even worse.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** My punishment was pretty harsh, but I'm pretty sure I deserved it, and it made me quit the whole thing pretty fast so I'm kind of glad about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What are you, some kind of a masochist?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It's possible.

**Akiyama Keiji:** On that note... would you mind accompanying me to meals from now on?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** The others are often around as well, but I'd prefer not to take any chances.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is this your way of asking me out on a date? Do you actually  _like_ being manhandled, Akiyama?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you do, that's perfectly fine, buuut...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** You really enjoy bringing those kinds of things up, don't you?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** If that's a yes, I'll take it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's a sure.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll keep an eye on you so you don't end up drinking things you shouldn't.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Thank you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Speaking of food... Is Takahashi still the one doing the cooking and all?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It would seem so.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You should ask him if you can help out if you're itching that much to play housewife and all.

**Akiyama Keiji:** It's not that I want to do it  _that_ much, I'm just really used to it at this point.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I don't really like sitting around without having my hands occupied... and it's always been a more relaxing activity for me.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Still, it would be kind of rude to just go up to Takahashi-kun like that and ask for a favor without anything to offer in exchange.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You say that like helping out isn't doing  _him_ a favor.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You dummy... I'm sure Takahashi will be thrilled.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Seeing as how we're not quite certain of that just yet, I'd rather not risk it.

****

**Akiyama Keiji:** It's quite possible he takes as much pride in what he does as I do, so I must approach him with respect.

_Men..._

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright then, you do you. As long as you don't whine about it afterwards, it's all good.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Of course I won't do that! Have some faith in me, Fujinomiya-san.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm trying my best here.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** You may be acting like that right now, but you sure won't be like this once I convince Takahashi-kun on my own terms.

Isn't it kind of contradictory if you phrase it like that anyway...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, speaking of Takahashi... could you pass a message onto him?

**Akiyama Keiji:** A message...? I can do that, sure. I'll most likely talk to him soon enough.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright, that's great.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Tell him your babysitter might be present to make sure you don't break the rules Hayama has set for you.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Geez... I kind of regret telling you that now.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yeah, I'll never let you live it down.

He shakes his head with a pretend-annoyed expression, and it's kind of entertaining. I guess I can keep doing this for a little longer.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** By the way, Akiyama... you said you work at your family's place or something, right?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Hmm? Yes, that's right.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It's my father's restaurant, to be exact.

**Akiyama Keiji:** It's a really nice place. I could invite you once we get out of here, if you like.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehh... It's supposed to be really fancy, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not really comfortable in those kinds of places.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nothing against you or your dad, it's just... not really my taste.

**Akiyama Keiji:** It's alright, I understand. I get that every once in a while.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I suppose it's a different kind of place than what most people are used to.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe if there weren't any other people around...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I feel like I'd just get stared at by all the other customers.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** That's... definitely possible. We do get those kinds of people really often.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** My apologies.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like you have to apologise for it. It bothers you too when you get rich snobs, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can't imagine they're all super polite to the staff.

**Akiyama Keiji:**...I can't really argue with that.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I admit they get on my nerves quite fast. This is my job, though, so I can't exactly retaliate.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Sometimes I stay in the kitchen until I can find a decent guest to occupy myself with.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I'm not really proud of it, but I'd rather do that than lose my cool and sully the reputation of the place.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Poor you, huh...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Still, it's pretty rad if you can keep your cool in the first place. I guess you aren't the Super High School Level Waiter for nothing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I imagined you were the type to kick rude people out or something.

**Akiyama Keiji:** What kind of a fu- I mean, idiot would I have to be?

You should've cut yourself off just a second later.

 **Akiyama Keiji:**...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Apologies. I can stutter at times.

Yes, I'm sure that's what it is.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eehh? Are you actually the foul-mouthed type? I'm sensing a trend here.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Of... course not, haha...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I haven't got a clue why you'd think that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then, Akiyama, tell me... Why do you keep cutting off your sentences like that?

 **Akiyama Keiji:**...A speech impediment...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I sense a dirty liar.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're not mad, are you? I just thought it was an interesting detail is all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You know, since you're so well-mannered all the time.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I only have myself to blame for slipping up like that anyway...

**Akiyama Keiji:** There's not that much to explain, though. It just stuck with me as a habit, and it's a tad hard to stop myself sometimes.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I just don't really notice it if I'm not focused already.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It's kind of like when you start fidgeting and only notice when your mother points it out.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't fidget, though.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you talking about yourself, mama's boy?

**Akiyama Keiji:**...No.

**Akiyama Keiji:** In any case, if you see me slip up, do feel free to pay me no mind.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Chances are I'll get better as long as I continue paying attention.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Sure, sure, I'll just ignore it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or maybe we could attach a collar to you that shocks you every time you swear.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That might be more effective, eh?

**Akiyama Keiji:** What, I'm a dog in training now?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I sure hope not. It'd definitely be inhumane to treat a li'l doggo like that.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** So I'm less than a dog?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's okay, you can bear with it. You're supposed to be tough, aren't you?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** That's not really a compliment in this kind of a situation.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Mmm... some kind of incentive might be good, though.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** How about you whack me over the head every time it happens?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Like this?

The side of my palm collides with the top of his head.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I didn't mean  _right now_...

**Akiyama Keiji:** But you're pretty weak, aren't you? I wasn't expecting that.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Unless you were just messing around, I barely felt that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Akiyama Keiji:** You weren't messing around, were you? My bad.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's only because you're such a beanpole, geez!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can barely reach the top of your head!

 **Akiyama Keiji:** If  _I'm_ too tall for you, what about Takahashi-kun? Is he completely unreachable?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Maybe if you drink milk every day you'll grow taller.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmph!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not the shortest person here anyway...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** That would be... Yokoyama-san, wouldn't it?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I wonder how angry she'd get if someone brought that up.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I'd rather spare her from it, so I'll refrain.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, is that so?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you'll tease me about my height, but not Yokoyama?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Yokoyama-san is a lady, isn't she?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Besides, you started it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Fine, have it your way.

I bring my hand down onto his head once again - it'd probably be a lot more dramatic if it had an actual impact, though.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** So weak...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Whatever!

I make a point to walk off in the opposite direction with only a huff, and he stares after me with an amused expression, finding it a lot more entertaining than it probably is.

Maybe I should start working out so I can hit him properly... But then again, muscular girls really aren't that popular.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Akiyama Keiji:** Fujinomiya-!

My shoulder is grabbed roughly as he turns me around, and I get ready to simply knee him in the crotch after a maneuver like that before I actually realise the situation.

He's not holding anything at the moment, but just based on his flushed cheeks and slight swaying from side to side, I wouldn't say what he's been doing is that big of a mystery.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Didn't you say you wouldn't drink while we're still here? Whatever happened to that?

**Akiyama Keiji:** I have  _absolutely_ no idea what you're talking about.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I haven't been drinking- no, not one bit!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're not convincing anyone.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Weren't you supposed to have people watch you so you don't end up doing it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if it was a joke or something...

**Akiyama Keiji:** Watch me...?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Oh, yeah, now I remember.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I went to grab some water, and... and...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I think it was... Komatsu-san...?

Well, that explains a lot.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** B-but water was all I drank! I wouldn't break a rule I set for myself!

Whatever Komatsu gave him must not have been very strong - he's not too far gone yet, or... at least he doesn't look like he is.

He's just a tad too aggressive is all.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Whether it was on purpose or not, you were definitely drinking.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come on, let's get you some actual water and try to sober you up.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You haven't drank that much, right?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Like I just fucking said-

His sentence is cut in half as I hit him over the head.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Whatever. Let's go back to the kitchen.

I grab him by the wrist before he can argue, pulling him away in the direction of said room. I haven't really seen him drunk before, so this is... an experience, to say the least.

**Akiyama Keiji:** You're so fucking rude, you know that?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Geez, that's the second time in what - a minute? Do you really want to be disciplined that much?

He gets another hit.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Control yourself.

I sit him down onto one of the chairs in the cafeteria and go into the kitchen to bring him some water, and hope to god that he doesn't do something stupid while I'm away.

Fortunately he stays put.

**Akiyama Keiji:** The room is spinning...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's just you, idiot.

I hand him the glass.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Drink up.

I don't... actually know if drinking water helps, but I do know it helps with hangovers, so...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Is  _that_ water...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, so you don't trust me, do you? Even though you'll go ahead and leave it to Komatsu to get you a drink apparently.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Take it or I'll pour it over your head.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Uh huh...

He does end up taking it, downing it all pretty much in one go and almost choking on it in the process.

Idiot...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Y'know, if you were just a bit nicer, guys would probably flock to you.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? You don't like honesty?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It sure is nice to be considerate... but there's a limit to how long you can keep something like that up.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Besides, most of it is just friendly teasing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Drunk guys just aren't really my type so I'm more inclined to be harsh.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Not your type, huh...?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Am I usually your type?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Keep on dreaming.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You like it when girls treat you harshly, don't you? That's pretty onesided if you ask me.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Fuck off. You have no proof.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** You're only saying that because you wanna be able to tease me.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** 'Tis a real shame, but I'm afraid the only person I'll confess anything to is someone I'm interested in.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's kinda picky.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Girls usually love that stuff, though, don't they?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** It's romantic or whatever.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sure it's every girl's dream to have you confessing your turn-ons to them, yeah.

There we go, he seems better than before - although he's still a bit... well, drunk. Still, it's an improvement.

Ohoho, speaking of which...! I almost wasted this opportunity, hm?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why did you start drinking anyway? Your bad boy blood began boiling or something?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Of course not. Who does that?

 **Akiyama Keiji:**...Huh. When did I start again...?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Oh, yeah... It was because of some gang.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Some gang?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I joined this gang at one point because everyone in it seemed cool and stuff.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Also, I just wanted to annoy my parents 'cause they weren't letting me go off on my own and whatnot very often.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** In hindsight, that was a pretty shitty decision, but younger me was kind of an idiot.

**Akiyama Keiji:** You're about to say that I still am one, right? If you weren't a girl, I'd probably punch you afterwards.

Yeah, that's not patronizing at all.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Although I guess if you were still that small, it might just be a light elbow.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** As soon as you seriously injure someone it goes from banter to a proper fight, and if your opponent's visibly weaker than you, that's just a dick move.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You sure like swearing like that a lot, don't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we should wash your mouth out before anything else. What do you think?

**Akiyama Keiji:** Swearing? Have I been doing that?

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're not even listening to yourself, are you?

I let out a sigh.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess that's to be expected if you're like this.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Huh-?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just don't start rambling like you did before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe you should sleep it off before you actually end up punching someone out...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Actually, yeah, that's a good idea. I'll go take you back to you room, and we can talk again once you're back to normal.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll pat your head and praise you if you do it right.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I don't need something like that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Sure, sure... Come on, big guy.

I drag him away by the cuff of his shirt, rolling my eyes.

He's not gonna remember half of this anyway, if he'll remember anything at all, so it's no use trying to get him to open up more.

I got the conversation starter I wanted already.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I only take note of the fact that he wants to talk to me when Takahashi hands me a note, and I have to hold myself back from smirking.

It doesn't seem like he remembers much of the incident, but he does know he was acting pretty weird.

He's probably so, so ashamed... Maybe I should thank Komatsu with a gift later.

A single door on his knock is all it takes to get him to open it up, and I compose my expression into a pretty neutral one beforehand.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You wanted to talk, yeah? What's up?

**Akiyama Keiji:** I, uhm...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** G-good afternoon, first and foremost. Would- Would it be possible for us to talk inside?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** In your room? Sure.

He lets out a sigh of relief as I step inside.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see you're all better now. I hope Hayama didn't chew your ears off.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Ah, I would like to talk about that, actually-

 **Akiyama Keiji:** About the actual situation, that is, and not... the matter with Hayama-san.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I'm afraid my memory is much too hazy, but I do remember acting in a rather... unwarranted, and quite honestly rude manner.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I would like to offer you an apology... I didn't mean for you or anyone here to see me like that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's about that, huh?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's alright, it wasn't really your fault.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Except for trusting someone like Komatsu.

**Akiyama Keiji:** I admit I more than likely won't be doing much of that in the future.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Intoxicated or not, though, I'm still responsible for all of my actions.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** So, on that note... if there's anything I can do for you to make up for it, please let me know.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, if you insist that much... I'll see if I can think of something later.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Thank you.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** On that note, I... happen to have another question.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** You already know I don't recall much of what happened, so... I'd like to know if I said anything uncalled for, or something that may require an explanation, at least.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I tend to ramble at times when I'm stressed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... You did make fun of me for being weak a lot.

**Akiyama Keiji:** A-ahh, I did? I'm sorry.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Also... you were pretty rude in general.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Lighten up, I'm just messing with you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I mean... you really did all of that stuff, but it wasn't anything a simple apology can't fix.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So just relax, relax!

**Akiyama Keiji:**...You startled me quite a lot there, geez. I assumed you'd be more upset.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can be pretty rude too; don't worry about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It'd be kinda sad if I wouldn't be able to take this much.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Perhaps... that's a bit harsh.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** In any case, that's pretty much everything you'd actually need to apologise for.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not much, is it?

 **Akiyama Keiji:** If you're sure...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Besides, now I have blackmail material as well - that more than makes up for it.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Blackmail material...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Akiyama Keiji-kun has a criminal record, huh?

**Akiyama Keiji:** A-aahh... I should've known I let that slip.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm just joking about the blackmail part though.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I know that... I just dislike making that kind of impression.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I was hoping I could avoid it the next time I met new people...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe... It's not really a super horrifying secret or anything, though.

**Akiyama Keiji:** Even if you say that... It won't do my reputation any good.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** What have I gotten myself into...? Oh, dear...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like I'll tell anybody. You already know I don't really care as well, so all's good.

**Akiyama Keiji:** You won't? But isn't that the kind of thing that you may want to warn others about?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You make it sound like you go around slugging people, geez...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I know you already. You're a well-meaning guy with a sprinkle of anger issues.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Take a deep breath. I'm not some kinda bully to spread something like that so casually.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I won't tell anyone unless you ask me to specifically.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's good enough, yeah?

 **Akiyama Keiji:**...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** You're... very considerate. I'm truly flattered.

 **Akiyama Keiji:**...Thank you, Fujinomiya-san.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't mention it; it's no big deal.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm glad you managed to work things out with your parents, at least.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** That... is indeed very fortunate, yes.

**Akiyama Keiji:** They were rather upset for a while, understandably so...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** But they could see that I was trying my best after everything that happened, so... it took them a while, but they forgave me.

 **Akiyama Keiji:** I hope to become someone people can look up to for their sake as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's a nice goal...

 **Akiyama Keiji:** Do you think I can do it...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** There's no reason for you to start doubting yourself now, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Akiyama... I'll be cheering you on.

He flashes a bright smile, much less awkward than the one that came before, and the slight tension that had gathered in his posture gradually fades.

I finally feel like I reached my goal.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Akiyama's Undergarments**

****

They seem rather expensive; it appears he puts a lot of effort into choosing his underwear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello next up is yuzu-chan


	41. The judoka

**You have selected: Chiba Yuzuru**

The midget, huh... It might not be the worst pick, but it's still a bit... I don't know... disappointing.

Still, if I'm doing this, I'm going to do it properly.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sorry, could we talk-?

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Okay, let me just get this out of the way.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm not a girl, or a child.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Don't take it personally, I've just been called that by way too many people.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...? I wasn't going to call you either, though.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** You... weren't?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have an Adam's apple, don't you?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I... do, yeah.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Most people just don't notice it.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's... not that I care all that much, it just gets a bit tiring.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm... sorry...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe, it's okay.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori** **:** You startled me a little, but I understand how it could get bothersome.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's just start over, okay?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Sure, let's do that.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** You wanna know my name and talent, right? I'm Chiba Yuzuru.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm the Super High School Level Judoka. What about you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah- I'm Fujinomiya Kotori, and I'm a vocalist. Nice to meet you, Chiba-kun.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** You're a vocalist? What kind of music are you into?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's mainly pop... I think. But I've tried all kinds of genres before.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Ooh, I like pop music! It's my fav genre, actually.

That's kind of... unexpected.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh? What do you like about pop music the most, then?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Mmm, I like the cutesy cheerful kinds of songs, I guess?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I like listening to upbeat things like that; it's pretty relaxing.

Or... maybe you just like the girls who sing them...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see! I might sing for you sometime then, Chiba-kun.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** You will!? I'll be looking forward to that, if you mean it!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course I mean it.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Although we should probably figure out why we're all stuck here before that...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I haven't found any exits yet, but I haven't really checked the upper floors, so that might be why...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I hope we'll be able to leave soon... I'm not the biggest fan of these kinds of places.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** By that, do you mean ships...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you the type that gets seasick easily perhaps?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...Well, it's something like that.

It's okay, I already know you're scared of deep water.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that so...? Have you considered fetching some medicine from the infirmary?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not sure if they have something that can help you, but it can't hurt to check.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Maybe I'll go see if I can find something later, then... yeah.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm guessing you don't know how we all got here either, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't think I do, no... I apologise.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** It's not like we're here because of you. Don't apologise.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** If anything happens, you guys can just hide behind me.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Not to brag or anything, but I'm pretty strong. You guys can rely on me.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that so? That's very kind of you, Chiba-kun.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** It's kind of my duty, isn't it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you the kind of person who values these kinds of things?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Yeah! It's admirable when you see people acting like that, right?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Having strong convictions is pretty important.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** So you can rest assured I'll beat the hell out of anyone who raises a hand at you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's... very sweet, but please refrain from violence.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** It's okay, I was just exaggerating. I'll probably just hold them down.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...As long as they don't cross a certain line, that is...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** So yep, you have nothing to worry about.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay, I'll believe you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah, speaking of a way out... it seems like this place is rather huge.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I haven't been to many floors yet, but I do hope there's a music room somewhere.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** A music room? I remember seeing something similar to that earlier...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Really!?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I think it was somewhere on the second or third floor, yeah. I can show you the way later.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I was gonna make a map, but I'm not really good at that stuff.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't worry, I'm already grateful.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** We should look for some kind of device we can use to communicate with the outside world as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I imagine everyone's friends and parents must be worried sick...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Mmm... you're probably right. I'm not really sure what I'd have to look for, but I'll try to see if there's anything we can use.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Although I'm sure my uncle will laugh at me if I just call him up in this kind of situation.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah? I'm sure that's not true...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Nah, if I was him I would too.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It doesn't seem like we're in any danger or anything; what kind of a man would freak out just from this much?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I bet he's gonna be really impressed if I get all you guys out of here by myself... Maybe I should try that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eh-?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'll go ahead and explore the rest of this place, so don't worry about a thing in the meantime, okay?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** See ya!

He runs off without another word, looking both eager and excited.

I guess that's just the kind of guy he is. It's almost like a little kid playing the role of a hero.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** By the way, Chiba-kun... you mentioned something about your uncle before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you not live with your parents?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Where did that question come from?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I just remembered it, really...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There was a bit too much going on last time for me to ask.

He leans back in his seat with a low hum as he thinks it over.

We really didn't talk yesterday after we met at all, though - and breakfast is pretty much the only time when most people are in the same place.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's a bit of a long story, but I don't live with my parents, no.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** A lot of things happened at home, and I had to find myself a new place.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My uncle's a pretty nice guy, so I ended up going with him.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's way better than at home, so I can't really say I've any reasons to complain.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah... I see.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But didn't you imply that he can be kind of harsh earlier...?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm not denying that, but I don't wanna be some sissy boy either.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** He doesn't look down on me. He treats me like a man.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Plus he's pretty dependable when it comes down to it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah, I see... That does sound ideal for someone with your personality.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Doesn't he mind you wearing those kinds of clothes, though?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** What kind of clothes...? Is there something wrong with mine?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not that there's something wrong with it...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You just dress in a bit of a feminine manner is all.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Do I...? I've had clothes like this all my life, though.

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...Well, the ones I had back at home were a lot more fancy, but you get what I mean.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I dunno, I never saw anything wrong with it.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My uncle doesn't really care what I wear, and I just wear a uniform at school, so...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, that makes sense.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you're used to them, you can just keep wearing them then.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Huh? Okay then.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I don't really know what you were getting at, but sure.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder if your clothes are the reason people often mistake you for a girl...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Not my height...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You see boys your height every once in a while. I don't feel like it plays that much of a role... although I could be wrong.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or maybe it's your face. You  _are_ pretty in that way.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** E-eeh, you think so?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I think so, yes. Most girls I know wish they looked like that.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** But... you know, you're also really pretty, Fujinomiya.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Thank you...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I bet you're the type who gets asked out a lot, right? You must be popular with guys.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** A-ahh, no, it's not like that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've gotten a few confessions, but I wouldn't really say I'm popular.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm kind of jealous... Whenever I confess, I get rejected.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Maybe girls just like tall guys more when it comes to romance.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if that's true, please try to remain hopeful. I'm sure there are girls out there who would love to date you.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** That would be nice...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Girls also like guys who can defend them, right? I'll do my best to measure up to the expectations I can!

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Aahh... I wonder if I can get a girlfriend this year...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My old school is out of question, but I'm not going back there anyway.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why is your school out of question? Is it really far away, perhaps?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Not really. I just didn't make a very good impression there.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I kinda made myself a target and got knocked around a lot... it was pretty pathetic.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I fixed my reputation up after the first year, but I doubt everyone just forgot about it.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My pride wouldn't let me date someone who saw me at such a low point either.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But what if there really was a girl who liked you despite all of that?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** If there really was someone like that, I'd most likely accept the confession, but...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I don't really believe in miracles.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that kind of sad?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Is it? I don't really feel like it is.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I feel like it's sadder to be hopeful about something that might not even happen.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'll just wait until it looks like I have chance.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you say so...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Oh, also...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** This is completely unrelated, but don't think I've forgotten about my promise from yesterday.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Your promise...?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** My promise to get everyone out of here, of course!

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I may not have progressed much, but I won't give up.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** So don't give up on me either, okay?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Of course.

He grins proudly, hands on his hips, and it's clear his day's been made.

He's the easily-charmed type... I still remember that. I never thought I'd have any difficulty with a boy of this kind.

It's kind of sad that that determination won't take him anywhere though.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

I tilt my head more and more the longer I stare at him, waiting for him to notice - but I'm kind of doubtful he will. He seems quite spaced out... I'd wonder if something happened if I didn't know what it was already.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Chiba-kun...? Did something happen?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Huh? No, uh...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I've just been thinking about something for a while now.

****

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...Okay, I guess something did kind of happen, but it's not the end of the world.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Someone just kind of pissed me off earlier.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would you like to talk about it...?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Hayama scolded me and called me a rich brat or something.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I lost it for a moment and snapped back at her, and she ran off crying or something.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, dear... that doesn't sound pleasant.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Could I ask what happened to cause you two to fight like this? Hayama-san doesn't seem like the kind of person to insult people for no reason...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...She said she didn't like me being cautious with Natsume, Komatsu and Aragaki.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Okay, those weren't the exact words she used, but the gist of it is the same.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm not going out of my way to be an asshole to them, but it's only natural to be suspicious of people like that, isn't it?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I mean- it's not normal to act like that... They're just way too unpredictable.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I wouldn't be surprised if someone ended up getting hurt because of them.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...Tsutsui too, to be honest...

You really are a sheltered rich boy in the end.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that kind of mean...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can't help it if you find them suspicious, but... you don't like being judged based on your appearance either, right?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** But... that's not really the same thing.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You say that, but it's a tad too similar in my eyes...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if you turn out to be right, you never even gave them a chance... I feel like that's a little unfair.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sure Hayama-san meant well when she came to talk to you about this. Please try to make up with her, okay?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** As long as you're both considerate towards each other, I'm sure you can work things out.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm getting scolded again, huh...

Somehow, instead of getting angry, he only seems to deflate.

Oho? I wonder if it's because of the person lecturing him...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I wonder why we disagree so much on this...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... I know you don't appreciate it when this kind of things is brought up, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Could it be because of your upbringing after all?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you're not used to these sorts of things, your reaction isn't extremely strange...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...Maybe...

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...I wonder if it's because of those guys...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Those guys...?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My parents.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** If... If you really turn out to be right...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** That's going to be very, very frustrating.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I... don't think I understand...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Well, yeah. You guys wouldn't get it...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's not really something I talk about... or want to reveal, ever.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is it something embarrassing...?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's not... embarrassing, per se...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's something very shameful that I've been trying my best to leave behind.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If, uhm... If it's something you're not comfortable talking about, you don't have to share.

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...No, I trust you. I know  _you_ won't tell anyone else.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I just don't want to ruin whatever image you have of me... if it hasn't been ruined already.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not sure what you mean, but... I'm sure something like that won't happen.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** We're already friends, aren't we?

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...I guess that's true.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You know I'm not a shallow person, right? Please have some faith in me, Chiba-kun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Whatever your secret is, it won't make me think any less of the current you.

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...If you say it so earnestly, I can't not believe you.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'd like some time to prepare then... Is that okay?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** If... If I'll tell you something like this, I want to do it properly and not just ramble on and on like some kind of dumbass.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Also... I don't really want anyone to overhear us either.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes, I understand. Take as much time as you need.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Thank you. This really means a lot.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** In the meantime, um... Could we spend some time together tomorrow?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I guess it's kinda weird when I ask it like that, huh...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I just... think it might be better if we hang out beforehand. It'll just make it easier to talk and whatnot... probably.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wouldn't mind. It's something important to you, right?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...I thought you might say that.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** You're way too nice, you know?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe... I'll take that as a compliment.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** You can ask me for a favor anytime in exchange, alright?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like I'm doing this because I want something from you, though.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I know...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I just don't think it'll be fair if I can't return it somehow.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I want to be depended on.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So stubborn...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I already know you'll help me if I'm ever in trouble, so let's just focus on the present day.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Please talk to Hayama-san when you can.

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...Yeah, okay.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** If it's you, I'll listen.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Tomorrow... I'll come get you, so don't worry about having to look for me.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll be looking forward to it.

With a last wave of his hand and an unusually polite goodbye, he turns around, presumably searching for the aforementioned girl.

Even after he disappears behind a corner, I stand in place for a little longer.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

He does come get me, just like he promised.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Hey. You're free right now, right, Fujinomiya?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm free, yes. Do you have something specific you'd like to do?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Mmm, some karaoke would've been nice if there was a booth for it here...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Seeing as how our options are pretty limited right now, though, I've prepared several plans.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It all depends on which one you'd rather be doing.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** We could go see a movie, or check out the planetarium, or maybe we could try to see if we can do something with the concert hall.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Or maybe-

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...Now that I think about it, it might make things harder for you if I list off too many things.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm sorry if I sound indecisive. I've never really... gone out with people like this. Not with a girl, at least...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's okay, don't worry so much. I appreciate the effort you put into thinking about all these things.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's see... How about I make you a special offer?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** A special offer...? Like what?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come with me to the concert hall. I'll sing something to you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You want to be relaxed, right? I've already promised I'd sing to you before, so might as well do that now and hopefully put your mind at ease.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You like music, after all, don't you?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Are you sure? That does sound nice, but... if it's troublesome for you...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What are you talking about, Chiba-kun? Of course it's not troublesome. 

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm the one who offered in the first place, aren't I?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:**...That's true.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Okay, let's go then.

There we go, geez... You don't have to be so reluctant.

I take his hand and lead him to the concert hall - I've already checked ahead of time in case he wanted to visit it, so I already know there's nobody around at this time of the day. It wouldn't be too annoying even if there  _was_ someone there, but... the situation will be a lot more ideal if it's just us two.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Take a seat, now. If you're part of the audience, you must be seated comfortably.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Sure, sure...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder if I can find something to use for background music...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or would it be fine with you if there wasn't much of it?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm alright with anything, really. Just having you do this in the first place is enough.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course  _you_ would reply with something like that...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Fine, then. In that case, if you really don't mind...

I clear my throat, and he straightens his back to show that he's going to properly pay attention.

I've messed around quite a bit with the software, so I should be fine either way.

I start to sing, and he sits up even straighter than before. That's no surprise, of course - while the song itself is nothing special, I made sure that my voice would sound as good as possible, and based on his expression, it seems to be working.

Once I'm done, he sits still for a bit before he actually starts clapping, eyes sparkling all the while.

I can't say I mind.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** That- That was really good, Fujinomiya!

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I knew you'd be great since it's your talent and all, but... you have a  _really_ nice voice!

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's no wonder you'reSuper High School Level!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Thank you... That's very sweet of you.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did you manage to relax?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I think so, actually.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Lovely! Is there anything else you'd like to do today, then?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can choose the next thing we do since I picked the first one.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Can I? I might be a bit awkward, though...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I go out sometimes, of course... It's just usually with a group of guys.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Also, uh... the kind of stuff we did wasn't really what you'd do with friends normally, I'm pretty sure, so I can't really use that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm...? What do you mean? Are your friends unusual?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** It's a pretty long story, but I ended up with these guys following me around after a while during my third year.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** All kinds of things happened along the way, and we ended up becoming friends.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** They call me their boss. Isn't that pretty cool?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** But yeah, that's what I meant about my reputation and all.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's a lot easier to earn the respect of guys than you might think. As long as you're honorable and courageous, you're all good.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** They... call you their boss?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Yep. Dunno why; they just started doing it after a while.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Man... I kinda miss them, I'm not gonna lie...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Most of them have already either dropped out of school or been accepted to another high school.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have some rather... peculiar friends, don't you?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** It's all good; they're all great guys.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What did you guys do together then?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Oh, we did a lot of patrolling.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** The teachers weren't too pleased with it, but we did a lot of circling around the school to see if we had to discipline people and all.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Bullying was really common before that, but it's pretty amazing how quickly it disappeared afterwards.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** All it takes is hard work and determination, and you can accomplish anything.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah... that's admirable.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm glad!

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** But... yeah, I can try to choose something, but I'm okay if you're the one who picks things out too.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm really not picky.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... alright then, let me think.

He balances on his heels with a lighthearted, easygoing expression, and it's clear that he's a lot calmer than before.

I guess tonight or tomorrow should be good enough then.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I knock on his door and wait a few seconds for him to open it - I've seen him pace up and down, so I know he's a little restless.

I'm not really sure why... it's not like the whole thing is that big of a deal. Weirdo has some strange priorities and whatnot...

Once he does open the door, he seems to calm down - I guess because he doesn't really need to wait any longer.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Oh, Fujinomiya. Hi.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Do you, uh... Do you wanna come inside?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Sure, I don't mind.

I step inside, and he makes sure to close the door behind me.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** You can sit on the bed or a chair or something, I don't mind.

Eh...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'll have you know I'm not nervous at all! I've thought everything over, and I'm perfectly fine.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah... are you sure? You do sound a bit... strange.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Y-yes, I'm definitely sure.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** And to show you that, I'll cut to the chase.

He clears his throat.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I've already told you that I love with my uncle, right?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes, that's right... Did you run away from home?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I guess you could say that.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I have my uncle's last name, but my parents' side of the family is pretty rich and all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that why Hayama-san's remark made you so mad?

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...Yeah.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** My parents are pretty bad people, you know. They're the arrogant and selfish kind who only care about their stupid public image.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Y'know, it'd be really nice if I could just step past the whole thing in one go and leave it behind, but I can't, 'cause it keeps getting in the way even now.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Even though I'm doing a lot better than before... things keep happening to remind me about the whole thing, and it's the worst.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What did your parents do that was so bad...?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm pretty sure they were trying their best to mold me into the perfect trophy child or whatever...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I wasn't allowed to go outside, to wear what I wanted, to play with the kinds of toys I wanted...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I couldn't disagree with anything they said.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** The worst thing is that when you're a little kid like that, you don't question it. It's completely normal to you, because that's the way it's been for your entire life.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I got lucky. I'm sure there are plenty of people in the same situation who don't have the luxury of running away.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** If there's one thing I'm glad about... it's that I don't have any scars.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** They were afraid leaving permanent injuries on their little child would ruin his pretty pale skin. How sad is that?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** My uncle, on the other hand... I'm glad I came to him in the end.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** He was pretty impressed, actually. Figured I'd be some kind of weak goody two-shoes.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I offered to help out around the house if he let me stay, and he did.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Sorry. I kinda started rambling at one point there.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...No, that's not it.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Eh-?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not sure why you thought I'd think less of you after something like this...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If anything, I'm glad you got it off your chest.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't... like being pitied, do you? I don't feel that way, don't worry.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're... a really good person. You're always trying your best, aren't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You should feel proud that you've come this far.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if your parents have made a lot of things harder for you... don't let that control your life.

**Chiba Yuzuru:**...That's not... what I expected...

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Ah, man... Short guys probably aren't your type, are they?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...?

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Don't worry about it.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Thank you for listening to me and sticking with me until now.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm incredibly grateful.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I know I've said this before, but... I'll be sure to return the favor.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I hope you can wait until then...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course I can. Don't you know, Chiba-kun? My patience is my charm point.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** Perfect! I promise I'll work hard until I can become a person I can truly be proud of.

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** Once that day comes... I'll ask you out for real.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** E-eeh...?

 **Chiba Yuzuru:** I'm serious, of course. A real man would never lie about something like this.

**Chiba Yuzuru:** I hope you won't forget about me in the meantime.

He's so earnest and dedicated, it's kind of impressive.

If he looked the part, he'd definitely be popular with girls.

It's kind of unfortunate that nature blessed you with a baby face like that, huh...

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Chiba's Undergarments**

****

It seems that just like with his casual clothes, he's not the type to care much about gendered fashion.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is protag-kun himself


	42. The voice actor

**You have selected: Hanamiya Takashi**

Not the worst possible option, I guess... He's quiet enough, so it shouldn't be too much trouble.

I don't appreciate being on the other side of sarcastic commentary, but I guess as long as I avoid annoying him too much, I should be fine.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Hey... I'd like a name and a talent.

It's a little funny, I admit. He doesn't seem like the type who'd go out of his way to talk to everyone else.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You mean mine?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Who else would it be? Of course it's yours.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh... My name is Fujinomiya Kotori.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** My talent... I'm a vocalist.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What about you?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm Hanamiya Takashi, a voice actor.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see. Nice to meet you, Hanamiya-san.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would you happen to know how we ended up here, by any chance?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm... not quite sure how I'd have any idea.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's a no, then?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Yeah. Now, if you'll excuse me-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Wait, don't go yet.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** What?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That wasn't a proper introduction, was it...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Of course it was; we said our names.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But an introduction is more than that, right? Although... I'm not quite sure what it is exactly either.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** When a transfer student comes to class, they first write their name on the board...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then they get asked questions, I think.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I've never heard of such a thing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did I get it wrong...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Instead of questions, maybe... How about you just summarize what you want to say?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** What I 'want' to say... isn't much.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But it's something, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It can be a hobby too, I think, so don't worry too much about the topic.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** For hobbies... I like videogames and TV series. And taking naps...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Is that enough?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Somehow it doesn't feel like it is...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... How about I do one first and you can base yours off of that one?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...Go ahead...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Right, let's see...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** My name is Fujinomiya Kotori, and I really enjoy music of all genres.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aside from that, I'm interested in fashion and birds.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'd like to build a career in music first and foremost, but any of my interests would suffice.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I hope we can get along.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Why did you say your name again...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that how these are supposed to go...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Maybe, but you've already told me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... I suppose that's true. My apologies.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** And yours was barely longer than mine...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh? It felt reasonably longer, I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe you should add your name again.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...So you just want me to mimic that, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can add in all kinds of things, but yes, that's the base idea.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Then...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** My name is Hanamiya Takashi... and I'm interested in pop culture.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I don't like overexerting myself...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But I don't mind if it's for the sake of my talent.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Nice to meet you... or something.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Somehow that's even less energetic than before...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did you not get enough sleep last night, Hanamiya-san?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** No, it's always like this.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Even when I go to bed early...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I always sleep early... actually.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You'll get used to it... probably.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But if you're always sleepy despite sleeping enough... isn't that kind of bad?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Bad, as in...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not sure... Have you ever gone to a hospital about it?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Mmm... No, not really.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I just kind of forgot about it after a while.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** How do you forget about something like that...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder if someone here knows something about it...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Why do you look so mad all of a sudden?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh? I'm not mad, I'm just thinking.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did I look weird somehow?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You were frowning... kind of.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... It wasn't on purpose, though. Maybe you were just imagining things.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But... anyway, putting that aside...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There's a chance there's someone here with at least a little medical knowledge; it might be good if you tell them about your problem.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't want to be so sleepy all the time, right?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I don't mind it that much...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...You're not very motivated, are you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even so, I insist.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or... maybe I could ask around for you, if you're too tired to do it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would that be better?

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...I guess that's fine. But I won't look for you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll just search for you later, in that case.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There were multiple bedrooms on the first floor... I'm guessing if we're still here tomorrow, I'll find you in yours.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Most likely...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Can I go now...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can. Be sure to sleep early tonight too just in case, alright?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...Of course I will...

Without a bye or anything, he leisurely starts walking away.

Let's see... Might as well ask Natsume about this later. It's a pain dealing with him sometimes, but I'll need to if I want a reason to approach this guy again.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

I stare at the door for a few seconds before I go ahead and knock, and as expected, there's no response. He's probably sleeping or something... I couldn't be bothered to check anything aside from his location.

I knock again, and again, and when I reach for the door to repeat the action for the fourth time, it finally creaks open.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah- Hanamiya-san? So you were here after all...

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...I was taking a nap.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I assumed you'd be sleeping in, so I came at a time I thought I'd find you awake.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I apologise.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Mmm... Do you need something?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh... Did you forget all about yesterday?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Yesterday...?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Oh, now I remember. I wasn't expecting you to come so soon.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Didn't I say I'd visit today?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Did you? I'm not sure.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm quite sure I did, yes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would you like to talk outside, or in your room? If you'd like to keep your room private, that's fine, of course.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't mind.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** No, my room is fine. It's just a normal bedroom...

He lazily steps out of the way, albeit still leaning against the doorway.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Come in, I guess...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** If you want to sit down... just pick whatever.

I end up sitting down on the bed.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I know you've more than likely talked to everyone, so you might know this already, but it seems that Natsume-san knows a fair amount about health and medicine.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I remember that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He's provided me with a lot of useful information.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He said he's no expert on the topic, but he told me a decent amount.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** On that note... Hanamiya-san, do you snore in your sleep?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Excuse me...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I thought that was a straightforward enough question...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not sure why you'd need to know that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see... Perhaps I should start from the very beginning to avoid confusing you, then.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Basically, there can be many causes for sleep deprivation going unnoticed like this, but according to Natsume-san...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** A likely reason is a lack of ability to regulate sleep cycles... I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He brought up two main things... one of which was sleep apnea.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you have breathing problems during sleep, it can disrupt your sleep cycle and cause sleep deprivation.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't remember every cause he listed for it, but... If you're overweight, or allergic to something, it's possible.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm... not overweight.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Are you sure?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'll have you know my weight would be perfectly healthy even if I gained a bit more.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** In any case, my parents haven't mentioned anything about me being loud during sleep, so I can't imagine it's that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay, let's move on to the second one then.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Natsume-san spoke about this for longer, but I'll see if I can try to sum it up.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There's this thing called narcolepsy... I'm not quite sure what it is exactly... I believe it can cause you to wake up several times during the night without remembering...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Natsume-san brought it up first, actually; he said he thought it was a likely option.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** How come...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... 'The majority of those affected may experience a sudden loss of muscle control that is triggered by strong emotional reactions'... is what he said.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Because you have an unusually mellow personality... Natsume-san thought it might be an unconscious attempt of damage control on your part.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Isn't that... normal?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's kind of rare... I think.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** On the bright side, he said that while major depressive disorder is also a possibility, he doesn't think it's likely.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm... not going to argue with that, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You want to know why, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's because you still take care of yourself for the most part.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Your hair is decently kept, your clothes are all clean and whatnot, and you don't eat too little or too much.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's wonderful how much knowing these things can help, right?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Okay, well... Even if you know that much... What about it?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What do you mean?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I've already said before that it doesn't bother me that much...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Even if you can put a name on it... What does that change?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can get it treated, for one.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course, Natsume-san doesn't have a medical licence, so he can't prescribe you anything... and he did mention you should refrain from taking drugs on your own...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But once you get out of here, you can get proper treatment for it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aside from that, there are small things you can do to hopefully improve your situation in the meantime.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Like what...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Like limiting stress in your life, and getting enough exercise and sunlight.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I already do the first one though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Having fixed times for going to bed and waking up every day is also supposed to be helpful.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And a better diet...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** That kind of sounds like a pain...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You won't get better with that kind of attitude.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll help you out, so at least give it a shot.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Do I have a choice...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I know you must dislike being bothered so persistently, and I apologise for that... but now that I've gotten this involved, I feel like it's my responsibility.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's really not that big of a deal...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll write out a list of rules that you can modify slightly to make it easier on yourself, and as long as you stick to them, your condition should get better.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you think it'll help, I'll let you handle the rest of the day however you like, but tomorrow is your deadline.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...I'm already tired just thinking about it...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You were tired from the start, weren't you?

His expression shifts into that of a slight grimace, but he doesn't seem to have the strength to argue.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I do hope you've been doing as I told you, Hanamiya-san.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I feel as though I need to remind you that this is a very sudden lifestyle change, and... I'm not prepared at all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I suspected you wouldn't follow these things on your own...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why don't you think of it as an assignment? You must have gotten them at school before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if it's not enjoyable, it's important.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not getting graded on this though...

**Hanamiya Takashi:** If it was an assignment, at least I could put on anime to watch in the background.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Or ask someone else to do it for me...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Or rework someone else's and hand it in...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's... not very good.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't your parents get upset?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's not like they're aware of it...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** And my grades are decent anyway. They don't get involved in my schoolwork unless I'm failing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that... bad for your future, though? I mean, if you don't learn at school...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You say that like school isn't a waste of time in the first place.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I already know what I want to do with my future... and practical skills are all I need for it.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm merely conserving my energy by refusing to bend to the will of the educational system.

While the explanation is delivered in a rather half-assed and lighthearted manner, his logic stands on its own.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh... I wasn't expecting you to bring up actual good points.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You got pretty lucky with parents like that, huh...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Aren't most parents like that?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't really know... I feel like most I know are really strict compared to that.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** That's kind of... lame...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But it's normal if you want your kid to grow into an admirable person, right?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...I feel like that'll just do the opposite though...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Living your kid's life for them... You must be a really sad person if want such a half-assed existence.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eh-?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not really exceptional at anything except my talent...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** And it's kind of hard for me to get excited about anything else...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** And I'm probably not an admirable person at all...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But I have something I'm passionate about... Isn't that enough?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** To have something that you want to live for... I think something like that is a nicer thing to have than forced expectations.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That was unusually earnest from you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I think... you might be an admirable person after all. Just in a different way than what you imagined...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You must be talking about someone else...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Or perhaps I happened to get involuntarily stuck in a role from before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's strange... You sound just as deadpan as usual.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** To voice a character accurately, you must first get into their head.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Understanding the emotions you're supposed to portray is a rather difficult job...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It appears I've brainwashed myself against my own will. How unfortunate...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you can brainwash yourself so easily, perhaps you should try it with the rules I've set out for you.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** It's no use... I feel my motivation fading...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm kind of amazed that it's visible.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... If you can't do the whole thing all at once, how about taking small steps?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** A small step for you is more than likely supersized for me...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Self-discipline is an attractive trait, Hanamiya-san.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sure it would make you more popular among girls as well if you were a little more athletic.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Ah, don't worry about that. My 2D wives are all loyal, and would never betray me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** 2D...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** In any case... Please don't ask the impossible of me.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** For someone like me to become athletic... It's impossible.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You'd need a miracle for that... or a magical contract.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like you can know until you give it a shot.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** That is a perfectly reasonable conclusion to draw, but I must decline.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It appears when I was created, all of my points went into mental abilities.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** When it comes to sports... I'm so much below the average person, it's completely hopeless for me to even attempt to catch up.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's strangely pessimistic all of a sudden... Aren't you just lazy when it comes to things you don't care about...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's simply realistic. It might as well be coded in my genetics: 'will just barely pass gym class'.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** The laziness is merely a result of me accepting that fact.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Because there's no point in working hard on something if you know your efforts will be wasted... right?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You might as well use that energy to work on something worth your time...

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I think I managed to depress myself...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** H-huh?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just when you managed to change my mind about you, you say something like this...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's a cliché of the most unbearable kind... My character appears to suffer from the ailment 'imperfection'.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But... really, I've said it once already...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not an admirable person at all...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I suppose I ended up proving my point.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

For the first time, there's a hint of a smile in his features - albeit of the smug kind.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hanamiya-san, how are you today?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're up earlier than usual...

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...I wake up at around this time usually...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I just lie in bed for longer...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah, does that mean you're finally starting to take your responsibilities more seriously?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I feel like a proud mother.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not sure what those two have to do with each other...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But there's no point in staying in bed if I can't fall asleep again.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...Do you guys always get up this early?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've been up for a few hours now, actually. From what I can see, it tends to vary for people quite a lot.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I see...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's have breakfast if you're up already. I've already eaten, but I can accompany you regardless.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** There's really no need for that...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I've already eaten anyway.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Already? I guess you woke up even sooner than I thought.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It would seem so...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... Would you like to spend some time together anyway?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Depends on what we'd be doing, I guess.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You already know what I like...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Would you like to go to the arcade?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** The arcade?

Oho... I've got a hit.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You like videogames, right? That would be the ideal place, then... I think.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm okay with that, but...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You want me to get exercise, right? Why would you suggest the arcade of all places?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There are a few machines you can use for exercise there... like that one rhythm game.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Since you seem to dislike exercise so much, I figured combining it with something you do enjoy might make you want to do it more.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...I'm kind of demotivated after an explanation like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's just go.

I grab his hand by the wrist and proceed to drag him all the way to the arcade - he doesn't really seem like he's even trying to resist. I guess that means he's okay with it... or something.

Once we arrive, I guide him straight towards the rhythm game in question. I'm not the strongest person around, by all means, but I'm plenty fit, so something like this shouldn't even be a challenge.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You must've played this one before, right?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Mmm... A few times.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's really exhausting, though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah, that's good. It should be good enough for exercise, then.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would you like to start? Or would you like to play at the same time?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Whichever...

In the end, we end up doing multiple rounds simultaneously, and... well, it goes about as well as expected.

He looks like he's about to pass out.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I... think I'm going to take a break.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh? Alright then...

He practically falls to his knees once he reaches a wall, taking up a sitting position with his back against it, legs crossed, and lets out a sigh of relief.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I think this is enough exercise for the day... or for a lifetime...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You really are lacking in stamina, huh...

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Why the frown...? It's not like I can help it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Technically if you exercised more in the first place you wouldn't be so bad at it.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But, you know... it's kind of boring.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? Exercise?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Yeah...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why not take up some kind of sport then?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Because I'm no-good at that kind of thing...

I exhale a long sigh.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you won't practice, then you won't be good, yes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Everyone needs to start somewhere.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** I doubt I could ever be good enough, though...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I have no talent when it comes to physical activity.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if you don't have natural talent, hard work by itself is enough to get you somewhere.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Mmm... It gets you  _somewhere_ , I guess... but it's not enough.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** No matter how hard I try, I know I won't ever become an exceptional athlete...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Team sports aren't for me, because I'll just drag the whole team down... and I'll just publically humiliate myself if I try an individual one.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** When it comes to these things... sure, hard work plays a role. I had to work hard to get where I did with voice acting.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But talent beats everything.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** The only reason I'm even able to pursue a career of this kind is because I'm talented at it...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Even if I was half-assing it, there's a good chance I could do better than someone without talent.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** This is just being realistic...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Are you upset?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No... I just dislike this way of thinking.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's true that natural talent can give people an advantage, but... to say that there's nothing you can do if you don't have it is like giving up without trying.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** That  _is_ one thing I excel at.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** That... was a joke. But, you know, I'm not just making things up here.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** You see that kind of thing more often than you think in real life...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** People who work hard get left behind all the time by people who become successful with barely any effort.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...

He shrugs his shoulders.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Let's just play if talking like this gets you in a bad mood.

* * *

I knock on his door once, twice, and a third time... and yet, he doesn't answer this time.

That's strange... I made sure to check he's still in there. Maybe he's occupied with something...?

It sucks that I can't check the cameras outside of my room...

I knock for the fourth time with annoyance, but my grumbling is cut short when I see the door move. Finally, geez...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hanamiya-san...? It took you longer to answer than usual.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Ah... sorry. I had headphones on so I didn't hear you at first.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, that's good. I thought something had happened.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Were you listening to music?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Not really...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I was practicing lines.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Lines? Oh, for your work?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Yeah.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...If you need something-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you're busy, it's not like it can be helped.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll come back some other time.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm not really... busy. I mean... we can pretty much do whatever we want here.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...True. But if you'd rather continue doing what you've been doing and all instead...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...I don't mind.

You sure like playing hard to get, hmm?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... If you're being so wishy-washy...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Does that mean you actually want to hang out, you just don't want to say it?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** 'I don't mind' means that I don't mind. I don't feel particularly strongly about either option.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eehh...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** If you came here to drag me out to play games again, I'm okay with that.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Games are fun, at least...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I didn't really have a particular destination in mind... but that sounds good enough.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So... are you okay with going right now, or...?

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Sure, just... let me put my things away first.

He goes back inside the room, and I wait outside, balancing on my heals.

He leaves the door open, so I can hear him dragging a few things around - and all it takes is a single step for me to be able to see inside.

Speaking of which... I almost forgot to remark on this.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Where did you get all that equipment from?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Like the mic and whatnot...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Where...? From the concert hall.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** There were some things in the store too, but all of them looked really cheaply-made, and since we're not paying for anything here, I figured it'd be better to go for the best possible option.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You dragged them all the way to your room from the concert hall...?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It took a while, but I couldn't think of a better way.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** But I came across Takahashi-kun at one point, and he ended up helping out, so...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You didn't seem like the type who'd go to such lengths.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Normally I wouldn't...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But your talent is important enough to you?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Yeah.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Even if I don't look it... I can be passionate about things.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Most people would probably be jealous of something like that...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess most of us here are like that, though. Having something that we enjoy doing so much...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Still, even then... it doesn't suit you at all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're so strange...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I feel like that kind of thing is only strange to you, though...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** None of my friends have said anything like that before...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have friends?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'm... just going to pretend I didn't hear that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It was a joke.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Your humor appears to be quite dry...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** To put jokes aside, I'm impressed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even though you're so disinterested with everything else... you really do love your talent.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's kind of fun seeing you like that.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Maybe you're the weird one...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** It's hard to figure out what you're thinking sometimes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And yet, you avoided addressing the main point...

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I didn't  _avoid_ it. I just didn't know what to say to that.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** People don't just drop comments like that out of nowhere...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It wasn't out of nowhere. I felt like I should comment on what you were doing.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, if we're playing a game today again... Let's bet on it.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Bet? What would we even bet?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** The loser will have to do one thing the winner asks of them.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** How about it? Whoever wins more rounds will be declared winner. Pretty straightforward, right?

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I don't really know what I'd ask for, though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If I win, you'll have to eat a healthy meal every day for dinner from now on.

**Hanamiya Takashi:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can ask for something too, you know. Isn't that kind of tempting?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It can be  _anything._

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Anything, huh...

**Hanamiya Takashi:** Oh, I know.

**Hanamiya Takashi:** If I win, you're going to let the health thing rest while we're still stuck here.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** I'd like to slack off for just a little longer.

 **Hanamiya Takashi:** Once we get out, my parents will force me anyway... if I still can't sleep properly.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... That's a troublesome proposal.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But very well, I accept. Let's have a friendly contest, Hanamiya-san.

He rolls his eyes lightly as he finishes arranging everything.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Hanamiya's Undergarments**

****Rumor has it those who possess this limited edition underwear awaken to the powers of the Super High School Level Cat Maid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn kuuderes, do u have any idea how hard it is to fill things w sprites when both people are ridiculously stoic and one of them only communicates with ahoge signs  
> next up is mm-kun heck,


	43. The mystery

**Or rather, the actor**

**You have selected: Izumi Mamoru**

God... seriously? I'd take anyone,  _literally anyone_ over this guy. And he's probably busy going around anyway...

Hmm... Perhaps if I talk to him in the evening at certain times... I can't imagine he'd be busy until  _that_ late, and as annoying as it is to have to do this by the time I'm already tired, the last thing I want to do is start my mornings with this moron staring at me.

Mmm, alright, evening it is.

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mamo-chan, you there?

He wasn't in his room - in fact, he didn't seem to be anywhere near the first floor at all - or in the cinema, so the only other option I can think of is the theater.

 _Of course_ he'd happen to be in the last place I search.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Mmm...? What's up?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's already this late... Shouldn't you be asleep or something?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or working on some super important system-related stuff since you're so  _busy_ , as you put it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You say that like you're not hanging out in a place like this so close to nighttime.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll have you know relaxation is very important before sleep. I don't need early wrinkles to start developing.

**Izumi Mamoru:** So you agree that this place is relaxing then, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I haven't gotten to spend much time here, so I was hoping I'd at least be able to do so in the evening.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's why you've come here too, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...I guess.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Knew it!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're somehow a lot less grumpy than usual too. I wonder if it's because you came here...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you're already here, would you like to spend some time together? Since you're in a decent mood and all...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's rare to see you not acting all cocky and condescending.

Oh, how I'd  _love_ to wrap my fingers around your neck right about now...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't cross a line.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Aww... There goes that, I guess.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are you so easy to get into a bad mood anyway?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Out of the two of us, you're the weird one. You're either chipper or throwing a tantrum.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What are you, a child?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Don't make such a big deal out of it...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** There's nobody around but you, so I can act however I want.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Self control is draining.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** The fact that you need to control yourself in the first place is kind of sad, don't you think?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, shut up!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Back when we first started talking, you were way nicer...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You were a lot less obnoxious in text-only as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we should go back to that...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then again, your username was pretty weird too.

**Izumi Mamoru:** My username...? What about it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's so... girly.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you really like these sorts of things...?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Mmm... I watch a lot of magical girl shows, so I just ended up with my username like that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe the reason you don't understand is because you're a normie...

The way he says it like he actually believes it is kind of annoying.

 

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll execute you and serve you for breakfast tomorrow morning.

**Izumi Mamoru:** So violent...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You should be more thankful, you know!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I lent you a bunch of money, and I even came up with the scenario all by myself...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It was hard work!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yeah, I  _let_ you come up with the scenario. It was a favor.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You should be grateful.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You can't just turn it around like that!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I just did.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmph...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** The killing game will benefit you as well... And who was the one who enabled it in the first place?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...You...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's right.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You need to be more appreciative, Mamo-chan. In fact, you should thank me for not spoiling you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can't let you become even more childish than you already are.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll ground you if you don't behave.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You can't just make up for being mean with only that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm pretty sure I can.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Aahh... You just want me to leave you here alone, don't you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's why you started talking like that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** And I was in a good mood before too...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** There you go again, taking teasing seriously.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You really are a child.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's okay, you'll understand everything in a few years.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Geez!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, speaking of which...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm, no... this isn't related at all...

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Huh...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, whatever...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** In any case, is it really okay for you to be going around dressed like that?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Dressed like what...? I know I wore different kind of clothes during the day, but it's not like that's weird.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Besides, nobody is around here at this time of the day.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Or night, rather...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I know I told you to take work more seriously and all, but you don't have to worry about the small details.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't care. Go change.

**Izumi Mamoru:** So bossy...

But he does walk off, albeit looking kind of annoyed.

Whatever; you're not nearly careful enough. This will be your downfall, Mamo-chan.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

I'm not sure what's more annoying... the fact that I have to end several of my days by talking to this guy, or the fact that he's  _still_ really hard to find most of the time.

Or the fact that he didn't listen to me the last time despite making it seem like he did...

I end up unlocking his door without permission - I can't really catch him by himself during daytime, so looks like I have no choice.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're back in those clothes again... You're so troublesome, you know that?

**Izumi Mamoru:** The least you could do is knock...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like anyone can come inside anyway... except you, apparently.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** The clothes are comfortable, so leave me be.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You could've just picked something more comfortable to wear for your other outfit then.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You should know I can't do that...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Everything has to fit perfectly, including the outfit.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Besides, I can't just change it now.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's why I said 'could have'. It's past tense.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What, do you want a reset so you can pick better clothes out?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course not!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Then there you go: past tense.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, what do you expect me to do? I already said I can't change it now, and I can't just time travel.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, I'm not expecting anything. I'm just lecturing you for the fun of it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Although you should still keep everything I say in mind. It might come handy someday.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course you'd say that...

**Izumi Mamoru:** What about your clothes, then? Shouldn't you be wearing those glasses?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Glasses are glasses, and clothes are clothes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not strange for people to take their glasses off every once in a while.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Taka-chan doesn't even put them back on half the time.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's not fair...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** The world's just unfair like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But see? I thought ahead. My outfit is just fine.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder if it's because I don't have  _daddy issues_ to distract me.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...That's below the belt.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** All's fair in love and war, or so they say...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll leave which one this is to your imagination.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But seriously, you should listen to me more.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if you get found out, it can be fixed, but it would be too much of a pain...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So do me a favor and don't make me go through all that trouble just for you, okay? I might start being nicer again if you do that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? Are you still sulking because of what I said?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, grow a pair; I'm sure you've said worse.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Maybe I have.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yeah, see?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Maybe I have, but...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But what? Do you think you're an exception?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're already getting special treatment. Don't expect much more than that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's what tough love is, you know. Parents aren't supposed to spoil their kids either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're not my mom...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Thank god for that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright, lighten up, now. Don't get all depressed just because of a bit of messing around.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not depressed!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good, glad to hear that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Of course I wouldn't get depressed so easily...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm pretty amazing, you know! Don't look down on me!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Sure, sure...

Great to know snapping every once in a while is easy to fix.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Anyway, topic change...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Have you been progressing lately?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hmm...? It's rare for you to go out of your way to ask something like that...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, I know! That's why you were so mean before!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're being nice right now, so you had to cover it up somehow.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You came all this way to ask me that, right?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Keep dreaming.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Tsundere...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just answer the question, you dolt.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Mmm, sure... Let me think.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I guess it's been going pretty okay.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm taking my time since we're not on a deadline or anything.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I bet you're the type to rush these things, aren't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course not.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oho? You aren't?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Naturally. You should expect at least that much from me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well... that's good.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're supposed to take these things seriously, you know?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even if this doesn't seem all that important, you must keep all your duties in mind and put as much effort as possible into them.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** A strong work ethic never hurts.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's so out of character it's kind of funny...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Hey! No it's not!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** In any case, it's going fine, like I said. So don't worry about me, okay?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** As if I'd be worried...

****

**Izumi Mamoru:** Or what, do you want regular reports or something?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't know, that kinda sounds like a pain...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Eehh...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, that's right... You're an honors student, aren't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I forgot about that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That explains that stick you have up your ass.

**Izumi Mamoru:** FIne, be that way. We'll see whose work ethic benefits them more.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is that everything you wanted?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Pretty much, yeah. Unless you have something important to share.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, not really...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Whatever. Goodnight then...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Night.

He still seems like he's sulking over what happened earlier, but I don't pay it too much mind. It's not like he'll remember anything after I'm done with him.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

A single knock is all it gets for him to open his door this time, and he seems... sleepy? Maybe he was already on his way outside or something.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You look weird.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Good morning to you too.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did you not get enough sleep or something? This is usually the time you wake up.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It is, yeah...!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I ended up staying up the majority of the night... I had revisions to do...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why does that not surprise me...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You could've just finished it during the day... but I guess an idiot will always be an idiot.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I'd forget everything by that time... You clearly don't know anything about writing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that so...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What do you want so early anyway?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You've never come by at a time like this.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you want an update again or something, you could've just come here in the evening... when I'm more awake...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I thought you didn't like evening visits either.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...It's not like I  _mind_ them...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But no, I didn't come for an update. Could you come with me for a moment?

****

 

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Huh? Come where?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** To the monitor room.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's go. I'm pretty busy, you know.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You say that, but I bet you're just lazing around anyway.

He does end up following me, though, which is quite satisfying.

I would've made sure that nobody else is awake, but Mamo-chan is one of the first people to get up every day, and everyone else should be having breakfast, so... I think we should be fine.

Once we're actually inside the room, he stares with a blank look for a few seconds at the object in the middle as I make sure to close the door.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Is that... another cat?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep. Pretty cool, huh?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Mmm... It  _is_ kind of cool...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He's built into Shiro and Kuro, so he'll be pretty easy to whip out once the time comes.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What's his name?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What do you think?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Well... he's black and white, so...

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No guesses?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Nope. Tell me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's Mono, duh.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Monoduh?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you messing with me?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Yep!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Messing with you aside, this is pretty cool, yeah. I kinda wish I'd thought of it before you...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's like a fusion between two bosses in a game to create the final boss!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** A nerdy explanation like that is kind of irritating.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But yes, that's accurate enough.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I see, I see! That makes sense.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Good job. I bet you were inspired by my amazing ideas, right?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'd love that, wouldn't you? Sadly, it's nothing like that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Sure!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** On a more important note, I'm thinking of switching Shiro out with him.

**Izumi Mamoru:** E-eeh...? Why just Shiro?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Kuro is easier to mess around with so she'll be easier to get rid of with with the prank.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I could just make another copy, but... I feel like that'd be kinda lame. So Shiro it is.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh... I guess that's... fair.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What? Normally you'd be a lot more fired up about something like this.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Either that or arguing with me.

**Izumi Mamoru:** No, it's not like that. I'm just attached to Shiro already is all...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You a cat lover or something?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Not really. My sister is, but she's allergic.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, really? Which one?

**Izumi Mamoru:** The... alive one, of course.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Present tense and all...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I knew that, of course. I was just messing with you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're such a weirdo...

**Izumi Mamoru:** I wonder if I can annoy you by asking personal stuff. You're pretty secretive, aren't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And you aren't at all.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You kinda get used to it after extended media coverage.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I have stuff I wouldn't tell them either, though.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You wanna keep your public image clean and all.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep. That's normal.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But, you know... it's not like it's hard to find more info with the internet and all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You just need the right places to look... or the right people.

**Izumi Mamoru:** I already know you stalked me like crazy at one point, shush.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** It's not like you can unnerve me more.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, yeah, come to think of it... How much do you know anyway?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, I know  _everything_.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Surely not...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That was just an exaggeration, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's more like... I know almost everything. There's just one tiny detail missing...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, yeah?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, Mamo-chan...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Who was the one who set your home on fire?

He stiffens, looking more and more uncomfortable after a question of that sort, pursing his lips until his mouth is only a thin, pale line.

I'm not lying, though. That was the only thing I couldn't find... Probably because the case was never solved to begin with. There are a few suspects, but no proof or witnesses whatsoever... aside from this guy that is.

Even so, I can't imagine he's said a single word. It's all the more important for him now that he involves himself as little with these things as possible.

It would be a real shame if someone were to make it public... Don't you think so, Mamo-chan?

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's a secret. If you don't know, it's for a reason.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm? But what's the harm in sharing?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...You of all people should know how important family name is.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehe... You just seem to be implying something  _very specific_. I can't help but be curious.

**Izumi Mamoru:** You should mind your own business.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm glad you're paying attention to the plot and all, but I won't just keep letting things slide.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Now, let me go get breakfast before I starve to death...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Sure, whatever.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** See you later, kiddo.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hmph!

After confirming that nobody else is nearby, he turns his back to leave the room with the same kind of pouty look he'd been wearing all this time, and I kind of want to laugh.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mamo-chan! Hey, hey, we haven't talked in a while.

**Izumi Mamoru:** What are  _you_ so chipper about? I can't help but have a bad feeling...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course it's nothing bad! Can't I just be cheerful for no particular reason?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, because that's not like you. You're only cheerful when you're bullying me.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're going to do that right now, aren't you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Not at all, not at all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm definitely still not curious after last time... not one bit.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** See? I knew it!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** So persistent, geez!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, you're going to tell me sooner or later anyway, so if I were you, I'd just choose the former option.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's a lot less trouble that way.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Trying to be intimidating won't help you!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're so mean! And... And unfair too!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If asking you won't work, what will then?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not telling!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, I see. You want me to figure it out, hmm?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, I don't!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Such a pain...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You must be tired, Mamo-chan. Let's go to the theater.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Why are we going to the theater exactly...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** To make you spill, of course.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's the perfect place to have a _heart-to-heart_ , isn't it? Come, now, don't be shy.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not being shy... You're just being persistent for no reason!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm, sure, sure... Let's go.

I grab him by the wrist and drag him away, ignoring every single last one of his protests.

There's no point being sneaky in a situation like this, and if I'm going this far, might as well go even further.

I make sure to close the door behind us once we arrive.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Just when I thought you've finally stopped pestering me about my clothes...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** What will it take for you to just cooperate peacefully?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** My dearest Mamo-chan, there appears to be a misunderstanding between us.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** This  _is_ peaceful cooperating.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's... That's not what I-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not what you meant? I know that, of course.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't like me prying so much, do you?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Except the situation goes both ways, doesn't it? You can't help being curious either, can you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You've stopped asking things because you know you won't get an answer, but you still want to know.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's kind of hypocritical if you ask me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Remember how much you tried to pry at the start?

**Izumi Mamoru:** Y-you're doing the same exact thing, so you can't just call me out for it!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Except I never told you to stop pestering me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It was annoying, sure, but technically I'm not guilty of that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Which means... I win.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Ngh-!

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Okay, that's true, but...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That just means I can't ask you to stop. I still don't have to tell you anything.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's a good point. Not that I ever said that you had to, of course.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So how about we make a deal?

**Izumi Mamoru:** A deal? Like what?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I tell you a secret, and you tell me yours.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's a fair trade, right?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

****

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Is it really?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** If you already know so much about me, it doesn't really seem fair after all...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You're just a cheater.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're just exaggerating.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Am not...!

**Izumi Mamoru:** You know what? If you tell me your  _absolute worst_ secret, I'll tell you mine. That way I'll have something on you and you won't be able to blackmail me.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh, that's cute... You have all kinds of strange ideas, don't you?

 **Izumi Mamoru:** No, because there's nothing strange about this. You're just egging me on again.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Kinda, yeah.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that all it'll take, then? I'll execute you if you don't keep your promise.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Hey, I'm not like you. I don't break promises.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oho? Have  _I_ ever broken any?

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep, that's what I thought.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Now then, for the deal... Let's see...

His memory will be wiped anyway, so let's not spend too much time thinking about this.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not a virgin.

**Izumi Mamoru:** That's- That's not a dark secret at all! In fact, that's to be expected from you!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh,  _is that so_? It's to be expected, is it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll do you a favor and leave out the details. Just think about what that means in this context, you empty-headed-

- _piece of human garbage._

**Izumi Mamoru:**...Wait, you don't mean-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Now then, it's your turn. Spill.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You promised.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Who was the one who lit your home on fire?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It wasn't  _you_ , was it? 'Cause it's pretty suspicious for you to be hiding it so stubbornly.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Of course it wasn't me. Why would you even suggest that?

The way he speaks without hesitation makes it clear he's saying the truth indeed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So, who was it? One of your sisters?

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Either my mother, or my father. I'm not sure.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** There. Is that what you wanted?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... No, that's not enough.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Even though you said just as little...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, you've already said this much.  _Maybe_ I can help you figure it out. Don't you want that?

**Izumi Mamoru:** As if you could do that...

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Besides, it's more likely that it was my father. He's the type to do that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** All I know is that they started fighting as usual, and by the time I realised it, a fire had broken out.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** That's  _everything_ I know. So... there's no use trying to pry anymore.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh... I kinda figured it was one of the kids, actually.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or the mother...

**Izumi Mamoru:** Of course not. You just jumped to that conclusion because it would've been more convenient for you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Not really. I jumped to that conclusion because that's what I would've done.

**Izumi Mamoru:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Having a no-good garbage father like that... Do you really think I'd put up with it?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're quite naive if you believe that, Mamo-chan.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...Of course you'd say something like that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You should've been the one to do it - that way you could've warned everyone else. Or... killed him some other way, perhaps.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He's still alive, isn't he?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Doesn't it frustrate you that he will never be punished for anything he's done?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't you have some pride?

**Izumi Mamoru:**...You talk as if you have any idea about me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Technically, I do. I know  _everything_ , remember? That's definitely true now.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Don't give me that!

 **Izumi Mamoru:** You think I  _don't_ want retribution? Do you think I'm just some spineless coward, is that it!?

That's kind of what you are, yeah.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** I'm not  _stupid_ enough to risk doing anything until I know it won't backfire. For my sister's sake as well...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...You're stupidly strong-headed. You're ruining your immature child image.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Oh, shut up.

He takes a deep breath.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Stop jabbing me every chance you get. I'm too tired to even react properly anymore...

Good. A temper tantrum is the last thing I wanna see right now.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...I guess I can give you a break by now. You told me what I needed to know.

**Izumi Mamoru:** Wait... You will?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Naturally. I can't just keep wasting my precious time on pestering you.

 **Izumi Mamoru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You seem surprised.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Well, yeah... Of course I am. You're not the type to listen easily just like that.

 **Izumi Mamoru:** Is this your way of being considerate...?

I guess you can think whatever you want... It's not like any of it is my concern.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** On another note, it's time for your punishment, Mamo-chan.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mono, if you will...

Before he can even say anything, the monochromatic cat from before drops down from the ceiling as I'd instructed him to.

The door is locked, which means... I have all the time in the world to clean up everything.

The boy's mouth hangs open in slight shock for about a second before a spear pierces his chest, and I wait for him to drop to the floor before I examine him from closer up.

A 1-hit KO... Not bad, if I say so myself.

That's one thing crossed off my to-do list.

**Event 4: Cleared...?**

**Error: Event 5 Not Found**

**Item acquired: Izumi's Undergarments**

 

They're remarkably plain, just like him on the inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is kazuma kazuma kazuma desu


	44. The good luck

**You have selected: Kageyama Kazuma**

I suppose this could be a lot worse... A lot,  _lot_  worse...

I look across the hallway, examining it properly, trying to see if I can spot the guy. He stands out quite a lot, so it shouldn't be too hard...

It doesn't end up being difficult in the slightest, as I thought.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, I don't think we've talked yet... Could you give me your name maybe?

**Kageyama Kazuma:** My name? Ohh, yeah, I don't remember you at all...

**Kageyama Kazuma:**  It's Kageyama Kazuma.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Everyone keeps asking about each other's talents too, so I guess I might as well add that...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I'm the Super High School Level Good Luck. Pretty cool, huh?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good luck...? What kind of a talent is that?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Mmm... It probably just means I'm lucky.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I got picked by lottery according to the letter they sent me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** By lottery, huh...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** To be honest, that wasn't really the talent I was expecting either... but eh, I can't really complain if it's Hope's Peak.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Besides, I bet a talent like this is pretty unique.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You were expecting a different one though...? Like what?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, that's easy.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** A sharpshooter, of course!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** A... sharpshooter!? Is- Is that legal-?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Ahaha, I don't mean real guns. I've held those before, but I haven't fired one before.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** The type I usually use is like... BB guns and paintball and stuff.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** A-ahh, I see... So, not real guns...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I knew that, duh...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Mhm! I  _would_  like to shoot one for real one day, though...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I'm pretty good at it, you know!

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** That's why it came as such a surprise when it wasn't what I got.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm more surprised you were expecting to be accepted into Hope's Peak...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** That's pretty normal, isn't it? You gotta aim high for the  _real_  good results.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I... guess that makes sense.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Now I'm kind of wondering if we have any guns here... This place is pretty big, isn't it?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Aah, it'd be really cool...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I bet nobody could hear it if I fired one here too. We're pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But what if there are teachers around and we just haven't seen them...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's still possible that this is just some kind of school event... I don't think it's a good idea to risk getting into trouble.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** It's not like they'd just leave a gun lying around if they weren't okay with people using it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...That's a good point, but... should you really be acting this reckless?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Wouldn't it be better to wait a little?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Eeh, but why? What's the worst thing that can happen?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Getting arrested... maybe...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if your talent is luck, it only extends to the lottery, right? It's not as if you can do anything you want without worry...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Huh...? I wasn't really thinking about my talent, though...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You weren't?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Nope. I'm just basing this off past experiences.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** I've never gotten in trouble, so surely, this time won't be any different.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** God favors me, you know.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Maybe that's why I have luck as my talent!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What kind of an explanation is that...?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** 'Cause my karma's been pretty great so far.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You just gotta treat people nicely. That's all it takes, really.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ohh, I see...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I didn't take you for the kind of guy who believes in these kinds of things.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**  You just don't really seem like you think about them a lot...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Mmm... I guess I don't do it often. It's just kinda fun.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I mean, if something like fate exists, imagine if you were aware of it and tried to defy it...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** You'd be like a movie hero.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I wanna try that too, someday.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But what if it's something good?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Then I won't defy it!

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** If I met a soulmate of some sort... That would be really nice.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's a little wishy-washy...

He suddenly pauses for a moment, staring silently for a few seconds before he continues.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Hey, what was your name again...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah-!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I forgot to tell you... I'm sorry.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** It's all good. I'm the one who rambled on probably.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you say so...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, I'm Fujinomiya Kotori, and I'm the Super High School Level Vocalist.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** This is a bit late, but... Nice to meet you.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Like I said, don't worry about it.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Nice to meet you, Fujinomiya.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, yeah, by the way... If you're not good with being scolded, you might wanna introduce yourself first if you come across the li'l lady in the heels.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...? How come?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** She's been going around lecturing people left and right.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Dunno what's up with her, but she's pretty loud.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I guess it  _is_  a little funny though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** O-oh, I see, I see. I'll be careful then.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Thank you very much for the warning, Kageyama-kun...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** No problem.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I'll go check out the others, so I'll talk to you later.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay!

He walks off with a cheerful wave, but not before flicking his hat.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

The next time we meet, I find him in the arcade, eyes glued to one of the screens as he tries his best at the shooting game. Even if he's not the type to mind being interrupted, I wait for him to finish anyway, leisurely leaning against the doorframe in the meantime.

He's actually pretty good at it.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, Fujinomiya...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Do you wanna play too? I just finished my round, so if you were waiting for the machine-

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, no, that's not it. I was just watching you is all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You seemed like you were enjoying yourself and I didn't want to interrupt.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Besides, there are other machines too...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, you're right.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** If you were watching me, though, that means I can ask you...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Did you think I was cool? You saw my score, right?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I've been practicing a lot more lately.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Your score...?

I glance over at the screen, as though I haven't already checked it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** W-wow, that really is amazing!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You must've practiced a lot to get this good... I haven't played these kinds of games often, but I know they're very hard.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** They aren't  _that_ hard. You just gotta know the right technique for it.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** People tend to hold the gun weirdly so I show them how to do it right if I see something like that.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Well, my friends already know how it works...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We go out to play really often.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That must be nice.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Do you wanna hang out with us sometime? I bet you'd have a lot of fun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I... think I'd rather pass, I'm sorry.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not that good with crowds of strangers.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Really? Well, my offer stands if you change your mind...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Although I guess we gotta get out of here first.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you think we can...? Get out of here, I mean...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We don't have to worry about food for now, but what about when it runs out? There  _are_ 16 of us...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We had to have gotten here  _somehow_ , so maybe if we can just find the way we got in, we can also find the way we get out.

****

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Or we can find the control room and go on an adventure or something. It'd be like a class trip.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That sounds dangerous...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We could try to find some islands nearby; I bet that'd be really exciting.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I've never actually been on a ship before, so this is all very new and interesting so far...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I kinda wanna stay longer before we go back to our regular lives and whatnot.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You want to stay...? But what about food and other necessities-?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** If we can find some kind of island, there might be some kind of food on it too.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** That, or we can try fishing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** F-fishing!?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yep. We can make our own tools if there aren't any around; there's plenty of material for it.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Although the store might have something anyway.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're so strange, Kageyama-kun...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Is that a compliment?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wish we had some pets or something at least... Maybe a cat...

**Kageyama Kazuma:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What's wrong?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...I'd rather not be around a cat anytime soon.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, are you allergic?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Nah, not really. They just don't like me.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Every time I tried to pet one I got scratched.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe you just don't know how to handle them.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You think so...?

**Kageyama Kazuma:** W-well, either way, Natsume let me pet his snake a while ago and it was pretty much one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I think I might be a snake person... if that's a thing.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Eh, it's a thing now.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not very good with snakes...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yeah, I heard some of the others mentioning that too.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We've had snakes sneak into the house before, so you could say I'm experienced with them.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** They don't bite or anything as long as you're careful, and most of them aren't even venomous anyway.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I kind of wish I had one too...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe you could ask Natsume-kun to help you get one after all of this ends...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He seems like he'd know that kind of thing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you have experience with them, that might help as well...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yep, that's what I thought. I might ask him soon, then.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder how expensive a pet like that is to keep. It's not very common, so... it's possible that it costs a lot.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...What does a snake need anyway?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, I'm sure money won't be a problem.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We're pretty far from poor, and so far whenever I didn't have enough money for something I ended up getting enough sooner or later one way or another.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** 'Getting enough'...? You... didn't steal it, right?

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Eeh? Of course not.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You know how sometimes you find yen on the street when you're walking around?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I've never had that happen to me...!

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Really? It's pretty common for me.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I  _wish_ it was that easy to save up for me...

****

**Kageyama Kazuma:** I guess it must be part of my talent too.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I can lend you money if you need any anytime, just so you know.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** So if you ever run into any trouble, don't be afraid to ask for help, okay?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I appreciate the offer... But I don't really like asking for favors.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Just keep it in mind.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** O-okay, I can do that.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Thanks.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why are you the one thanking me...?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** 'Cause it's an effort on your part, right? It's only fair to thank you for that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Whelp, I think I'll go find Natsume now before it's too late. I'm too curious about the snake thing now.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh- Ah, wait!

He turns around with a questioning glance, and I stare for a few seconds before I shake my head.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Never mind. Good luck with Natsume-kun.

**Kageyama Kazuma:**...Thanks.

And with that, he's gone.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

I jump a little when the door to the cafeteria opens, Kageyama walking in with a rather cheerful expression, flicking his hat before taking a seat.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Morning. What's up with you today?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, it's nothing... You just startled me a little.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Ahaha, I did? I'm sorry.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's... alright.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did something happen? You're acting unusually upbeat today.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Something? Guess so. I had that talk with Natsume yesterday.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ohh, about the snake?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yep! He said he'd teach me how to take care of one properly, and help me pick out the right type.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Aah, I can't wait...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see... I'm glad everything went well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Although it might be better if you consult with your parents beforehand...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Mm, I'll tell them before I get it, duh. I know they'll allow it, though.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** We already have a dog; they're fine with pets.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah, that's good.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I bet my li'l bros are gonna be over the moon once I bring it home...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have brothers?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yep. I've got two.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** They're a bit of a handful, but we get along pretty well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah... Do they fight often?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Not with me... Mostly with each other.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** But it's not that hard to get them to make up. Most of the time it's really small stuff.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I'm good at peacemaking too so all's good.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's surprisingly responsible, coming from you...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** What? Is it weird?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** To hear you talking like that? A little.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Still, I'm glad. I'm sure your parents appreciate you helping out as well.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Thanks.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Maybe if they have one more pet to pay attention to the kids will stop fighting too... or do it less at least.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Alright, this sounds like a good plan!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You've made your mind up this much, huh...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** 'Cause Natsume's already reassured me that everything should be fine as long as Iong as I keep his instructions in mind.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Mm, well... I might have to write them down. I can be a bit forgetful sometimes.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** But either way, it'll be fine!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wish I could be that confident... I think I'd be a lot more worried if I was taking care of an exotic pet.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You really might just have super high school level luck, Kageyama-kun... I'm kind of jealous.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You have such a nice family, and you have a bunch of friends too...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...But I guess it might be rude of me to speak like that.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Huh? Why would it be rude?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I kind of made it sound like you haven't gone through anything difficult in your life...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sorry. I shouldn't make such assumptions.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...It's fine, really. I don't really pay attention to double meanings like that...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Something difficult, though? I think everyone has had something like that.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Although I guess part of it was my fault for being a dumbass...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah...? Should I ask what this is about?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...I might tell you sometime soon, if you really wanna know.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** It's not really something that I just yell into the world like that, but you seem like you can keep a secret.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't have to tell me if you don't want to...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** It's not that I don't want to, relax. It's just not something I'm used to sharing, so I'm still debating the whole thing.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Don't worry about it, a'ight?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...If you say so...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yep, I say so.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Let's do something fun in the meantime once you're done with eating.

It's only just now that I notice that he's gone ahead and devoured his entire meal already.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, I'm sorry, just give me a moment...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You don't have to hurry. You might choke if you eat so fast.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Although I do know the Heimlich Maneuver so you'll probably be fine even if you do.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's... reassuring.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** So? Where do you wanna go after this?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** The... arcade again, maybe...? We didn't actually get to play together last time.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, that's true. Sounds good, then.

He leans back in his seat, waiting for me to finish my food.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Kageyama-kun...? Are you alright?

He flinches a little, raising his head.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Huh? I'm alright, yeah. Why, what's up?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You've been staring off into space for a long time now... It's not like you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are you feeling down? Did something happen?

**Kageyama Kazuma:**...It's nothing serious. Or... at least not my situation.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I... might have caused a bit of trouble for Hanamiya earlier.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...Actually, it's not just a 'might'.

He lets out a sigh.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** I feel really bad, and I'm pretty sure he's still mad at me. I think I might've just been bothering him whenever we hung out...

The complete lack of confidence is the exact opposite of the attitude he usually carries himself with.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sure it's not as bad as you think it is... but what happened between you two? Are you sure it was your fault?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yeah, definitely...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Uhm... We went to the theater together and hung out for a little bit.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Then we found a bunch of weapon props, and I convinced him to... duel with me, kinda.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I, uh... I broke his glasses by accident. I don't think I've seen him mad at all before...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ahh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I suppose I can understand why he'd be so upset about such a thing. He might not be able to find another pair that works for him here...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Still, I'm sure he'll forgive you soon enough. You didn't injure him, right?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Uhm... No, I don't think so.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't beat yourself up over it so much, then. As long as you show that you're sorry and you're more careful from now on, Hanamiya-kun will definitely calm down.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe there's a way to fix his glasses too, if it's just the frame you broke.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You think so...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm sure, yes. Hanamiya-kun doesn't look like the type to hold grudges, especially not over something like this.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just pay more attention next time, okay?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you want to go to the arcade together? It might cheer you up if you take your mind off of it for a while.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Are you sure that'd be alright...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come on, of course it is. Where's your usual relaxed attitude?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not the end of the world.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:**...

**Kageyama Kazuma:** I guess you're right...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Still, I need to find a way to make it up to Hanamiya somehow...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** There you go, that's a better mindset to have. Solving the issue is always better than just regretting your actions.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's look for Hanamiya-kun together and see if we can get the glasses fixed. If it's just a frame, we might be able to glue it together.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll be fine if I come too, right?

**Kageyama Kazuma:** You don't have to treat me like a little kid; it's not like I'm scared or anything...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Hanamiya might not want to see me right now, though, so you can come with if you want to. I'd appreciate it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay, that sounds good enough. Let's go.

I grab his hand by the wrist and start walking already, with him not having much trouble keeping up at all thanks to his height.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I knock on his door, and he actually opens it pretty quickly, sticking his head outside.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Fujinomiya...? Do you need something?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm, not really. I just came to check up on you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're feeling better after last time, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't know if you talked to Hanamiya-kun one-on-one after that, but he seemed calm enough, at least.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh-

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Yeah, I'm all good now. Sorry for making you worry like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's alright. I'm just glad the problem was solved in the end.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yeah... me too.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Hanamiya was back to normal the next time I saw him, so... I think it'll be fine.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Thanks.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What are you thanking me for? Geez...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just promise me you'll start being more mindful about everything.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't want something like that to happen again, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can't always just rely on your luck to get you through everything.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** And now I'm getting lectured...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** This is a lecture, yes. I want you to keep what I said in mind for the future.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That much shouldn't be too hard for you, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Even if it's a habit, it can only help you if you try to improve on it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Please try your best, Kageyama-kun. I'll be rooting for you if you do.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Alright, alright... You're not my mom, but you're probably right anyway...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I'll give it a shot.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I do find it a bit strange that you haven't thought about this before, though. Didn't you mention something about getting into trouble?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or something along those lines...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Oh, that... wasn't really me being reckless. That was just a stupid move.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I, uh... got into gambling at one point, 'cause I wanted to earn money and I thought it'd be fun.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that... illegal?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Now you know why I don't tell just anyone...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...But you don't do it anymore, right?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** No, of course not. I quit the whole thing before my parents found out about it.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** I won't be getting back into it anytime soon... There's nothing I need money for  _that_ much.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well... that's good.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm glad all of that is in the past. I'll scold you if you try to do something like that again, okay?

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Yeah, yeah, understood...

He laughs softly, flicking his hat as a sign of agreement to the whole thing.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** I'll come to you from advice from now on, so I hope I can still count on you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** E-eeh? I- You can, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like I'm that smart...

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** Is it? You seem smart enough to me.

**Kageyama Kazuma:** Besides, I think we count as best friends by now, and those are supposed to rely on each other.

 **Kageyama Kazuma:** You can rely on me too anytime, okay?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Okay.

He holds his hand out for me to shake, and I take it, breathing a soft sigh.

I suppose I've come far enough.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Kageyama's Undergarments**

****

They're loose and comfortable, although they look a little bit like... swimming trunks...?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is nakajima-kun


	45. The illustrator

**You have selected: Nakajima Tooru**

I let out a small sigh, but it's not like there's anything I can do about this now; there's no point in selecting this at random if I go ahead and switch it around. Besides, this still isn't the most annoying person I could've gotten...

Standing next to the table, I fiddle with my dress a little, swallowing my discomfort about my exposed collarbones - this much should be nothing, geez... It doesn't even show any cleavage.

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

I guess most people would just ignore the other person in this kind of situation if they didn't want to talk...

That's kind of irritating.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Excuse me...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... Could I have your name, maybe? That, or your talent... or both, if possible...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't think we've talked yet... probably.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...No, we haven't.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Nakajima Tooru, illustrator.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** You?

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, nice to meet you, Nakajima-kun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** My name is Fujinomiya Kotori. I'm also the Super High School Level Vocalist.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Nakajima Tooru:** If that's it, could you... go talk to someone else, maybe?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** You're kind of in the way here...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Someone else...? In the way? But we barely even talked...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah, so...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I still wanna talk a bit more...! There are some things I'm curious about...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Like... your talent! I wanna know more about your talent!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's normal to be curious about that sort of thing, right?

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

Yep, I knew this was the perfect topic.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I guess that's fine... but I don't really know what to say if you ask me so suddenly like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's fine! I already know what I want to ask anyway!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... What kind of talent is an illustrator in the first place?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're an artist, right? What kind of things do you draw?

**Nakajima Tooru:** That's kind of a broad question...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is it? You can just answer whatever you like, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll just ask more things if I get confused.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** It's... mostly pictures for novels.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Like covers?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** That too, but also illustrations to go along with the story.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see! Is it something like light novels, then?

**Nakajima Tooru:** O-of course it's not light novels, geez...!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I wouldn't even touch those with a 10 foot pole...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh? What's wrong with them?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** They're all sloppily written trash for people who can't even read; what  _isn't_ wrong with them?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey! Take that back!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There are some trashy ones, but there are also some really well-written ones that I've read!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You shouldn't generalize genres like that!

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's pretend I wasn't yelling.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... I guess you draw for regular novels then!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What kind of genres do you work with? That's a proper question, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't read that much but I think I know what most of them mean.

**Nakajima Tooru:**...Dark fiction for the most part. My style is suited for that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...You mean horror?

**Nakajima Tooru:** I-it's not the same thing...!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** You shouldn't mix them up so carelessly!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright, alright, fine...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Can I at least see your drawings? You have a notepad with you, right?

**Nakajima Tooru:** No, you can't look at it.

He holds said notepad just a little closer to himself.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eh-? Why not?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Because it's private.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But you're carrying it around with you in public...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** B-because I don't know when I'll need to use it...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ehh... Somehow I'm even more curious now.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's nothing perverted, right?

**Nakajima Tooru:** Of course it's nothing like that...! _What_ is wrong with you-!?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It was just a joke!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well... kind of...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess it's still a possibility.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** D-don't joke about something like that!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But then again, you're getting so nervous about it... Are you sure it's not true?

**Nakajima Tooru:** I'm-

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

He flips the notepad open, careful enough to hide its contents until he reaches a specific page, holding it out afterwards.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** See? It's nothing weird or inappropriate.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's more normal than I was expecting...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is everything in there just a regular study?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh- wait... Since you didn't show me the rest, it's still possible that this is the only normal page.

****

**Nakajima Tooru:**...Of course it's not...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Wait, are you actually upset about that?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... I was just trying to joke is all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It wasn't meant to be serious...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you hate light novels you're probably not the type to do that anyway...

**Nakajima Tooru:**...No, I'm not mad, idiot. I'm just annoyed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is there a difference?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Obviously.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... Maybe I can ask you to show me your drawings some other time, then. I'm still really curious.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You won't mind that, right? You'll have time to collect everything that you're willing to show.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll take that as a yes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... Could I come see you tomorrow, then?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe not for the art, but to talk more.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I have more things I'd like to know!

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...Do what you want...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay!

He shoves his notepad into his pocket anyway just in case.

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nakajima-kun...?

I reach out towards the door to knock on it once again, but it opens before I can touch it properly.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, there you are.

**Nakajima Tooru:**...What do you want now?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... I said I'd come by, right?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah, but...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** It's early...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh...? What are you talking about?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's already past noon.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah, that's... early.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't tell me you're the oversleeping type...

**Nakajima Tooru:** Hey, I still sleep a normal amount... I just need to have a different schedule than you guys.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I can't just do things whenever I like. I'm pretty busy, you know.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But you're already up by the time I wake up every day.

****

**Nakajima Tooru:** That's... because the kitchen is still empty at that time...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is that important? Is it different if there are people around?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Well, yeah...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I'd rather not spend more time around you guys than necessary...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You keep saying rude things like that and calling me names. I wonder why...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't  _actually_ mean all of that, right? Because if you did, that'd be pretty mean...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I saw you freak out yesterday when you made Takahashi-kun cry.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** He wasn't crying...!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** And I wasn't freaking out either...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** He did look pretty close to tears though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're  _really_ suspicious right now...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Will you just shut up about this already...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Shooting me down like that is really mean by itself already...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Geez... That kind of hurts...

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Nakajima Tooru:** I didn't... mean it like that...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** There it is again. You're actually a pretty big softie, aren't you?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Wha-

**Nakajima Tooru:** God... You're so annoying, you know that?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, I'm just saying it how I see it... I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm kind of guessing for the most part...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But I think it's pretty obvious by now!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's kind of funny.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** No it's not!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, speaking of funny things... I almost forgot what I was going to ask in the first place.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I had a whole script prepared in my head and everything, I just got distracted.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Tch... What?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... You said your style is more suited to dark stuff, but does that mean you never draw lighthearted things?

**Nakajima Tooru:** That's not... funny.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I know!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I only remembered it just now, and I couldn't think of a segue before I forgot again.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...But anyway, it's not like I have time to just draw whatever I want.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I've said it before. I'm pretty busy.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Messing around really isn't an option...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can't be  _that_ busy...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I am  _that_ busy.

**Nakajima Tooru:** Which is also why this whole situation is such a pain in the ass...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Clients get really troublesome if you take your time with them.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I don't even want to think about all the whining I'll hear once I'm out of here...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But it's not like they can blame you. I mean, we're all stuck in here... I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I haven't seen any exits at least...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So it's not your fault, right?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Even if it's not my fault, it'll cause me trouble anyway.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're so stubborn... Maybe it's a good thing that you're stuck in here with us.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It'll teach you how to pace yourself properly.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I  _am_ pacing myself properly, I'll have you know. I know my limits perfectly well.

**Nakajima Tooru:** I know what being overworked is like, and I'm not stupid to cross that line again.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** See; you've even gone overboard once!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** It- It was a long time ago, s-so stop nagging me about it!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmph...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe I should ask Takahashi-kun to put you in a headlock whenever you get like this.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** What kind of a threat even is that!?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It'd work, right? Takahashi-kun is pretty strong.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I saw him lift Minamoto-chan earlier.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Jokes aside, though... I'll keep an eye on you, so you better do what I say.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** What are you, my mom...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you want me to be.

His only response is a scowl.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nakajima-kun, Nakajima-kun!

He flinches, almost dropping the book he'd been holding onto in the process. I  _was_ expecting him to find him in the library one of these days, once he actually left his room for things beside eating, so I can't say I'm surprised, but he does seem kind of startled by the sudden greeting.

**Nakajima Tooru:** Don't you know how to knock...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But it's not like you'd hear it here if I knocked on the door all the way over there...

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Anyway! I'm impressed.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You actually left your room by yourself.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm...You're relaxing like I told you to, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's good!

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...I couldn't even do that with you around...

**Nakajima Tooru:** I'm doing research. I haven't gotten to read a book properly in a pretty long time, and I need to get back to that if I wanna make something actually worth looking at.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's not right! It's relaxing, Nakajima-kun, relaxing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You'll make your parents worry if you're like this all the time.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** My parents are way too occupied with their own issues to bother with things this pointless, thank you very much.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmph...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you even go out? Ever?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Well, yeah. Someone needs to do the shopping.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Shopping doesn't count. Don't you ever go out with friends and stuff?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I don't have time for something like that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What are you, a NEET?

**Nakajima Tooru:** I'm studying and working too...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you're just a hikikomori.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** No, I'm not!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes, you are.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** This is stupid.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You are-

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oops, better stop there. Nakajima-kun isn't very good with jokes, apparently.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, hey, doesn't it get kind of boring to be by yourself all the time?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It seems like it'd get pretty lonely after a while too...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or... wait, maybe...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, Nakajima-kun... Could it be that you're actually just bad with people?

**Nakajima Tooru:**...What?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oho? That's not the reaction I'm looking for...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I was sure I got that right, but you're not nervous at all...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just kidding. I already know I'm right; it's pretty obvious for anyone who's talked to you for more than 5 minutes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why don't you talk to people more? If you just got more used to it it'd probably be a lot easier.

**Nakajima Tooru:**...Putting your silly assumptions aside...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I don't need something like what you guys would call 'friends'.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Idealized things like that only exist in fiction. I don't have my head in the clouds.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, now, it's not like finding close friends is impossible.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Real people aren't like that. Most of them only care about themselves, you know.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Relationships are pretty pointless when it comes down to it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Wow, so gloomy...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't know what happened to make you think like that, but you're way too pessimistic.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You sound like a grumpy old man complaining about kids these days.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe you just hang around the wrong people. It's not  _easy_ to find a best friend just like that, but it's not as hard as you're making it out to be either.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You should try to find someone to talk to here.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aside from me, of course. Our hobbies are completely different so I doubt I'm the most fitting person here.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come to think of it... Do you even have any other hobbies besides reading and art? Or is that all you do?

**Nakajima Tooru:**...I haven't even agreed to this.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** And I don't even really know what to say if you ask me so suddenly...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You can just list off some things you like too. That works.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What kind of things do you like?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** 'Things'...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It can be anything. Go ahead.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I like... tea, I guess.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Okay, and...?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** And... cats.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Cats, huh? That could work, maybe. I'm not really a cat person but they're pretty popular, I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Anything else?

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... Do you listen to music?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Sometimes, yeah. It's not really the popular stuff, though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That doesn't matter, I don't think. What kind of music do you like?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Classical, I guess...? And... jazz can be nice.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So old-fashioned... You really are like an old man.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Hey.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's a joke!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I know.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** But anyway, I think that'll be good enough. If we can find someone who likes at least some of those things, you could try to talk to them about it.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** You're still not my mom...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll ground you if you don't behave.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Shut up...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll ask around and see if I can find someone else for you, but you'll have to talk to them yourself.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And I'll punish you if you don't do it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll ask Takahashi-kun to put you in a headlock.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** That again...?

He rolls his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Maybe I  _really_ should ask Takahashi...

To be fair, it'd be kinda funny.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, hey, Nakajima-kun...

He'd been just about to leave his room before I called out to him, so of course he'd be surprised. It's kind of fun to keep startling him like this, though, I'll admit that much.

**Nakajima Tooru:**...What? This... isn't about last time, is it?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I'm not really in the mood to go along with your stupid plans right now...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, that's kind of rude. My plans aren't stupid at all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But anyway, today is different, so it doesn't matter.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** How is it different...?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, uhm... I said I'd come by to look at your drawings, right?

**Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah, that's not happening anytime soon.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** The kind of things I've been drawing lately aren't even good anyway.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you're a Super High School Level, I doubt that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe your standards are just too high for your own good.

**Nakajima Tooru:** No, they aren't. It's normal to have standards like that if you have any pride in your work.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Aren't you an artist too? You should get that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yeah, but I'm not ridiculously picky like that. It's not like anything I'll ever make will be perfect, so my standards are pretty reasonable, I think.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come on, it won't hurt to show. Just pick out a few that you like; that can't be that hard.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Could you just-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nope. I'm curious.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** You didn't even wait for me to finish.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Because you'd probably just try to brush me off again.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I won't stop bugging you until you agree, so might as well get it over with.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** But you'll have to wait out here until I'm done.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, that was easier than I expected.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm fine with waiting. But you can't ditch me; I'll be right here the whole time.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll see it if you try to escape, got it? So don't try anything.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Alright, whatever...

And with that, he goes right back inside, leaving me by myself in the hallway in the meantime.

I take it upon myself to drag a chair over from the cafeteria - I already know he's gonna take ages to be done even if he tries to hurry, and I really don't feel like wearing my legs out for no reason.

Naturally, once he does step out - albeit quite a while later -, he raises a brow at the chair.

**Nakajima Tooru:** I... wasn't gone for that long, was I?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You were.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** A-anyway... here.

He holds out a bunch of papers, none of them looking like they were torn out of a sketchbook or something along those lines.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So many!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I do have to practice...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright then, I'll just go right ahead.

I take all the sheets from him to look through them one-by-one, although he does speak up once again before I can get a proper look at any of them.

**Nakajima Tooru:** Don't... say anything, okay? I don't wanna hear it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh? Alright, I guess...

It really doesn't take me long to go through all of them, but I take my time staring anyway. Might as well, if I've already gotten the opportunity... I'm way too lazy to try to find this stuff with the camera footage.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh... I don't get why you wouldn't want me to say anything about these.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I mean-

 **Nakajima Tooru:** No, no, I don't wanna hear it...!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... Is Nakajima-kun embarrassed, perhaps?

**Nakajima Tooru:** N-no, of course I'm not! Shut up!

I reach out to poke him and he jumps back reflexively, staring at me afterwards as though I'd just tried to stab him or something.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...? What's wrong?

**Nakajima Tooru:**...Nothing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You jumped.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** No, I didn't.

He takes another step back just in case before he clears his throat.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** I really need to go now, if you don't mind, so...

And before I can reply anything to that, he's already rushed off, leaving all the drawings in my hand either on purpose or by accident.

I click my tongue in mild annoyance.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

I knock on his door, and he does actually open it, which is... a surprise, but it's pretty neat. I hold out the drawings for him to take with a pretty neutral expression, and he reaches out to take them incredibly slowly.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You forgot these the last time.

**Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah... Thanks.

Before he can draw his hand back, though, I grab his hand by the wrist, and before I know it, he's dropped everything onto the floor and ripped his hand out of my hold so fast it kind of hurt my fingers.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...I knew there was something weird about that reaction. Is my hand that gross or something?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wash it regularly, just so you know!

**Nakajima Tooru:** N-no, it's nothing like that... But more importantly, y-you really shouldn't be touching people without their permission...!

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Personal space... Geez...

He leans down to pick up everything he dropped, examining each page carefully to see if they got dirty at all, looking kind of relieved for a split-second once he's made sure they're all just fine.

I crouch down beside him.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So... Why don't you like being touched?

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:** That's... normal. Most people don't like it...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No, that's not true. Or at least I don't think it is.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Most people don't jump like that when it happens, I'm pretty sure.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So...?

 **Nakajima Tooru:** It's really none of your business...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's kind of cold... I thought we were friends, Nakajima-kun.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Don't bring that up again...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh? Was I mistaken?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I was under the impression that we're friends already...

**Nakajima Tooru:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's not like talking about it will hurt or anything, I don't think.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Yeah, no, that's easy for you to say.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Clearly, you don't care what anyone else thinks.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And you do all of a sudden? You can be pretty rude sometimes, so I have a hard time believing that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's just me here anyway. What do you think telling me is gonna do? I already think you're an overgrown baby.

**Nakajima Tooru:** There's a limit.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** And I haven't breached it, because that was a joke. You know, to lighten the atmosphere.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** So? What will it be?

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...It's because of my ex...

That was kind of anticlimactic.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That you're scared of being touched?

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...You don't have to put it like that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's because your explanation was kind of... lacking.

 **Nakajima Tooru:** Y-yeah, well, that's all I'm telling you. It's personal and it's... really not a fun topic.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...I guess this is better than nothing.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, hey, thanks for talking. I didn't think you would.

 **Nakajima Tooru:**...Whatever...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Could you stand a bit closer? There's something I want to try.

I  _almost_ laugh at the suspicious look I get.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's nothing weird, I promise.

Once he does actually step a tiny bit closer, I lift my hand, and a dull thud sounds as he hits the floor after being slapped with full force.

I couldn't  _not_ do it - the opportunity was just way too tempting! Still to think that someone would pass out from just this much... Even from a scaredy cat, that's kind of hilarious...!

I stifle a few giggles as I nonchalantly fix my hair, incredibly thankful that I got to mess around a little in the end.

**Event 5: Cleared...?**

**Item acquired: Nakajima's Undergarments**

They're kind of worn out; he's not the type to buy new clothes very often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next up is snake dad


	46. The herpetologist

**You have selected: Natsume Rintarou**

That's... actually not too bad. He's touchy as hell, but at least he listens to people. And he should be pretty easy to find as well, wearing a hat like that... although he  _is_ a little short...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... Excuse me...

I make sure to be a good distance from him just in case.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Ah... We have not gotten to introduce ourselves to each other yet, have we?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** In that case... May I have your name?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** My name... It's Fujinomiya Kotori.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm, are you a Super High School Level student too...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Judging by that kind of phrasing, I would assume that you are one as well.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** My name is Natsume Rintarou, and I am the Super High School Level Herpetologist.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is a pleasure to meet you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh-

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nice to meet you too, Natsume-kun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm... a vocalist.

He holds out his hand for a handshake, and even though I already know what he's going to do, I take it anyway.  _Of course_ the fingers on his free hand immediately close around my wrist, and I have to yank my hand away fast to prevent the whole... groping thing...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** N-Natsume-kun!?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What- What was that for-?

**Natsume Rintarou:** Oh? I was merely going to conduct a physical examination.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is only natural to worry for your classmates' health, after all...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I would just like to make sure that everyone is taking care of their body the way they should.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But... touching people so suddenly like that...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Is something the matter...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Y-yes! It's inappropriate!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** P-please at least give a warning beforehand if you're going to do something like that...

 **Natsume Rintarou:**...My apologies. I was unaware that my actions were not considered polite in this situation.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** They're n-not polite in any situation...!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do... Do you do this every time you meet somebody?

**Natsume Rintarou:** No, not every time. Only if the other person should become an acquaintance of some kind.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It's... a habit by now, you could say. I have gotten used to handling my babies in such a way.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Your... babies...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Is there something strange about what I said...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You... have kids, Natsume-kun?

**Natsume Rintarou:** Children? I suppose some of them are.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Come to think of it, I should introduce you to my darling as well. She happened to be the only one who was brought along, so I feel as though it would only be polite.

He lifts his arm slowly as he speaks, his sleeve moving around a little - soon enough, the head of a snake is poking out of it, looking around quite nonchalantly.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Isn't she beautiful? I cherish her quite a lot.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm... kind of scared of snakes, s-so...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Oh? She does not bite people, though...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Most of her siblings are rather peaceful as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** _'Most'_ -!?

He lowers his hand again with a kind of disappointed expression as the snake slithers back inside. 

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You... You have more...?

**Natsume Rintarou:** Indeed. They still appear to be home, be it fortunate or unfortunate, so at the very least I am certain they are receiving proper care.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is only natural... I need to spend quite a lot of time around them with a talent such as mine.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh... right.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Those scars on your arms... Are they from the... snakes?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** A couple of them are, but not most. It is not as if my babies are any danger, after all.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ah...? Then...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** There is no need to worry. The majority of them are already rather old, so they do not require any sort of treatment.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aahh...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Are they your pets, then? The snakes, I mean...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I suppose you could put it that way.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** My home is quite big, so there is plenty of space for them and their belongings.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't it... expensive?

**Natsume Rintarou:** Expensive? Perhaps.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** My father bought them for me, so I am not very knowledgeable about how much these particular ones cost, but I imagine they could be hard to afford if you are in financial trouble...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Fortunately my father is a successful businessman so we do not have to worry about the price when it comes to purchase.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You must have a really nice dad if he got you all that...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I believe he must have wanted me to feel more comfortable after providing me with a new home...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I am truly grateful.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** A new home...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I was living at an orphanage before I was taken in by my father.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I was rather young at the time... It took me quite a bit of time to get used to the difference in surroundings.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well... It's good that you found yourself a nice family in the end.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you also have a mom? Or any siblings?

**Natsume Rintarou:** From what I understand, the reason my father adopted me was because the woman he was in love with had left him heartbroken.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** As such, it is only him and I who live together... Although maids do come by to keep the house clean.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I would not say that I'm lonely, though... I still have all my babies.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I dedicate quite a bit of time to taking care of them on a daily basis. It is of utmost importance that they receive the best possible treatment.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You must really love your pets...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Of course... It is only natural.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** They are all my children, after all.

He caresses the snake around his arm as he talks with a fond expression.

I guess something like that is to be expected from a weirdo of this sort...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

The next place where I come across him is in the infirmary - he seems to be examining all the medicine and equipment one by one, tapping his chin rhythmically in the process.

He raises his head once he hears the door close.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Ah, Fujinomiya-san... Perfect timing.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Could I ask you to remove your clothes for a while?

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** E-eehh!? W-what kind of a greeting is that, N-Natsume-kun!?

**Natsume Rintarou:** Did I perhaps make another mistake?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes...!

 **Natsume Rintarou:** That's strange... I made sure to explain the situation beforehand.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...That wasn't an... explanation...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Oh, I think I understand. You would like more in-depth instructions for today's examination, correct?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** In that case... Please strip down to your undergarments. It is rather difficult to conduct the procedure properly if the patient is fully clothed.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Fortunately you seem to be in good health, so I do not have anything specific I am looking for, but I  _would_ like to make sure that everything is as I think it is...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I- I can't just s-strip in front of a boy...!

**Natsume Rintarou:** A boy? I am indeed male; what does that have to do with this?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Y-you wouldn't just take your clothes off in front of girls, w-would you?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** That depends on the situation, really...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I get cold quite easily, so I prefer wearing at least a coat when I'm outside.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** However... if the temperature was high enough, I do not see the problem.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I often walk around in the nude at home, as some of my babies require humid weather to be at their best.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** N-naked!?

 **Natsume Rintarou:**...This is rather... peculiar, to say the least.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** This is not the first time I have received a reaction of that sort to something I consider normal...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** How can you think that these things are normal...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Because... they really are everyday occurrences for me.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I am not sure what to make of this...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe, uhm... Maybe you could do research on this in the library...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I don't know if asking people would help... if you're not aware of it...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** The library...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I suppose so... I admit I would have no idea where to begin in a simple conversation.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Were you... homeschooled, Natsume-kun?

**Natsume Rintarou:** I was indeed. Is that important?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I was thinking the, uhm... root cause might be that you're just not used to being around people.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I mean... you did say you've been living with just your dad ever since you were small...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Hmm... Perhaps. The reasoning is certainly rational.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I admit I do not get the opportunity to talk to people often.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Y-yes, see? That, I think, most likely has something to do with it...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I wonder... Observing how others act may also be of help with an issue of this kind.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I shall begin as soon as possible.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Thank you very much for the advice, Fujinomiya-san. I am truly grateful, from the bottom of my heart.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aahh, you don't have to exaggerate... I'm just glad I can help... hopefully.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Nevertheless, I hope I can return the favor soon.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** In the meantime... I suppose I should start my observations.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is still early, so I should have plenty of time left in the day.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good luck, Natsume-kun. I hope it goes well.

He bows slightly with another thank you as a sign of gratitude, walking off at a comfortable pace afterwards. He doesn't look like he's in a hurry... but then again, he did say he had a lot of time.

It's none of my business what he chooses to do with his free time, either way...

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

**Natsume Rintarou:** Fujinomiya-san, do you have a moment to spare?

I turn around to see him approaching from the other side of the hallway, his walking stick knocking on the floor a few times. He stops at a reasonable distance, looking somewhat puzzled and lost.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** What's wrong, Natsume-kun? Do you need something?

**Natsume Rintarou:** I would like to ask for your advice on a situation, if possible.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I do not believe I can come up with the solution by myself, unfortunately...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh... I can do that. Did something happen?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Yes, although... the situation is somewhat complex.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I believe I may have upset Takahashi-kun unintentionally.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I apologised once I realised, of course, but I am still not sure what I could have done wrong...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... If you apologised, I'm sure he's not mad anymore...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But... I need to know the full situation first, if... if you want my opinion...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Yes, I understand. I suppose I should start from the beginning...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I happened to come across Takahashi-kun yesterday before nighttime, and I invited him to spend some time together.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Where did you invite him?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I spent quite some time considering all my options... and I ended up choosing the bath.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I thought it would be a relaxing experience... and Takahashi-kun agreed to it rather cheerfully as well.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** However... while we were in the changing room, Takahashi-kun's behavior seemed to change suddenly...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** He may have shed a tear or two.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aah...? Did you say something weird before that?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Weird? Not that I'm aware of.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I was just talking the same way as usual... It caught me off-guard, to be honest.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I believe it may have started around the time my darling tried to get to know Takahashi-kun by wrapping herself around his leg.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** E-eeh!?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why didn't you start with that!?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Is it... significant?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Takahashi-kun m-must have gotten scared because of that...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Scared...? But I have stated numerous times already that my baby is completely harmless.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's... still scary to have a snake crawling on you like that...

 **Natsume Rintarou:**...I am not quite sure how to process all of this...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I-in any case, just... make sure it doesn't happen again.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Takahashi-kun seems especially faint-hearted, so it would be for the best if you were... more careful around him.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Humans truly are a mystery...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Ah, well... nevertheless, I am in your debt once again. You have provided me with valuable insight.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** You are quite reliable, Fujinomiya-san.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm... glad...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Just try your best to be more considerate with everyone, okay?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Ah... Yes, I can promise that.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I would also like to express my gratitude properly, though...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** As such, if there is anything I can do for you, do be sure to let me know.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'll... try to remember that.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is there anything else you need help with?

**Natsume Rintarou:** No, I think that was the only thing that made me feel concerned at the moment.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I am handling everything else to the best of my abilities.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's good...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Hmm... Now that I know why Takahashi-kun was so upset, I suppose I should apologise to him properly.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Would you mind if I cut our conversation short?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's okay... Good luck with Takahashi-kun.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Thank you. Do have a lovely day, Fujinomiya-san.

And with a polite wave, he turns his back.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

I hear him calling out my name in the hallway the same way as before, but this time he seems much more relaxed. He probably made up with Takahashi.

Good for him, I guess.

He lifts his hat slightly as his greeting.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Good afternoon, Fujinomiya-san. Are you free today?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, Natsume-kun.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not really busy or anything... Do you need my help again?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I suppose you would learn to expect that sort of thing from me by now...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** But fortunately, I do not come seeking advice this time.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Since you have helped me out so much already, I wanted to think of a way to return the favor, but it was quite a difficult task...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** At last, though, I finally thought of something that I am hoping will work.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eehh...? But it's not like you have to worry about things like that...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is only polite. It would be rather rude of me to keep seeking your guidance without anything to give in return.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If... you say so...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... What is it, then? I'm kind of curious now...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Why, this, of course.

Holding out his arm once again, his smile doesn't falter as his snake reveals itself just like before, lazily resting its head atop his hand.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I have considered many, many possible options... But I truly cannot think of anything that would be more rewarding than letting you pet my darling.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** She is in perfect health, and her scales are incredibly pleasant to touch.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Normally I refrain from letting others touch her too much, as she can be a little shy, but I believe you should be able to.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...Natsume-kun...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Yes?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You... remember that I'm scared of snakes, r-right?

**Natsume Rintarou:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Even of my darling?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Are you absolutely certain?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Oh, dear... I may have miscalculated.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** My apologies.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** As long as you keep it in mind...

**Natsume Rintarou:**...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Perhaps I could assist you in getting rid of your fear of snakes...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That... w-won't be necessary; I'm fine.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** But is it not a burden to be carrying such a fear?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's n-not like I see snakes often anyway... s-so it's no big deal...

 **Natsume Rintarou:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** O-oh, I know... How about I ask you some questions instead?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That would work, r-right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I think it would be more fair than you going out of your way to do something for me...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Mmm... That's a good point.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Very well, then. Ask away, Fujinomiya-san.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... Let's see...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Did you always like snakes, Natsume-kun?

**Natsume Rintarou:** As far as I can remember, yes. In the orphanage I used to live in, there were a lot of them around.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** In... the orphanage? You mean outside in the yard...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Ah, there as well. I meant inside the building, though.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** While the lack of cleanliness and care for it was rather unfortunate, wild animals would often sneak inside, which was quite fun to observe.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I recall coming across a fox once, as a matter of fact.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Isn't that kind of... bad? If they don't maintain the building...

**Natsume Rintarou:** Well, of course they don't. My memories are somewhat hazy at times, but I do remember the owners were not exactly concerned with it.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** They most likely had other matters on their mind... The area was quite dangerous at the time, and there were too many criminals around.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aahh...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It was a rather harsh environment to grow up in... but then again, there are fortunate occasions where children get adopted, however rare.

**Natsume Rintarou:** I would consider myself lucky in that regard.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is... that why you have so many scars?

**Natsume Rintarou:** I suppose so. It is a pity, but unfortunately I do not believe I can remove these without surgery, unpleasant they may be to look at...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Not that it is that much of an issue... It's merely a small annoyance compared to more important things I have to worry about.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Mmm... speaking of which, I need to feed my baby soon.

**Natsume Rintarou:** There appear to be adequate meals for her, so it would seem.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh, that's... fine, yes.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you need any help...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I appreciate the offer, but I will do just fine on my own.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** We shall continue this conversation another time.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ahh... alright...

The snake seems to hiss in agreement.

**Event 4: Cleared**

* * *

This time, I'm the one who goes looking for him. I can't just wait for him to approach me every single time... I don't have enough patience or time for that.

Of course, he's the type to immediately open his door once someone knocks.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Oh, Fujinomiya-san... What a lovely surprise.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Do you need something, perhaps? Or have you come to visit me for a chat?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Uhm... Just to talk, I guess. We didn't get to talk too much last time...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Ah, that's right. I have quite a bit of time to spare right now as well, so you could not have timed this better.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Would you like to come in? I make sure to keep my room clean, so there should be plenty of space for you to sit.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** O-okay...!

I step inside, looking around in the room. For someone so strange, there really isn't anything too peculiar about it... But then again, it's not like anyone could bring any of their belongings. His room at home is most likely much more eccentric.

He himself takes a seat on one of the chairs, his snake curled up underneath the desk for a change.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** If you have any more questions to ask me, you may go ahead...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I cannot guarantee a satisfying answer, but I shall try my best, if nothing else.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright... uhm...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** How many snakes do you have, Natsume-kun? You made it sound like you have a lot.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Indeed I do.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Aside from my darling here, I have 20 at the moment.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I am not their official owner, though... They belong to my father.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** The number often changes, as he tends to sell and buy new ones at times.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It is a little sad when one or two have to go, but it is quire delightful to be able to study the ones who replace them, so I cannot complain.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You... really weren't joking before when you said you didn't have to worry about money.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is this one the only one you own, then?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Naturally.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** We have been together for a rather long time by now, and I have grown fairly attached.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I am sure my darling would agree.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see... It must have been difficult to learn to take care of her on your own.

****

 

 **Natsume Rintarou:** It was somewhat challenging at the start, but it never gave me too much trouble.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I had some help in the beginning as well.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh... By a friend?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** By my father. He wanted to make sure I could take proper care of her.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Aah... That makes sense...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** H-hey, Natsume-kun... I've been kind of suspecting this for a while, but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Have you never had a friend before?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** A friend...?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I can't say I have. I do not get to talk to people my age often in the first place, especially lately.

**Natsume Rintarou:** Part of me feels kind of glad about the current situation... It has been a rather enlightening experience so far.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** You could say it's a breath of fresh air.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm, well... If you're happy here, I guess that's good enough.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're learning how to interact with people properly too, right?

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Indeed!

 **Natsume Rintarou:** The learning process is somewhat slow, but I remain hopeful nevertheless.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** I would not mind if we were to be trapped here for just a little longer...

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Please do not take this the wrong way.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No, I think I get it. It's not like we're in any danger here either, so maybe... there's no reason for us to get too worked up about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We'll surely be found sooner or later.

 **Natsume Rintarou:** Yes... I would agree.

His hands are leisurely placed in his lap as his gaze becomes unfocused for a moment, and he stares off into the air with a serene expression.

He's the type who'd need to be pushed quite a lot to panic, huh...

Well, that's alright. You can't always get everything you want.

**Event 5: Cleared**

**Item acquired: Natsume's Undergarments**

****

Huh...? Something isn't quite right here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaAAH ONLY YUKI-CHAN LEFT NOW


	47. The violinist

**You have selected: Takahashi Yuki**

Finally, something good! He's not a pain to talk to, and he's pretty obedient when it all comes down to it.

He should also be pretty easy to spot... He pretty much towers over every single person here.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, hey! You with the headphones!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Eeh- Me?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep, you!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Tell me your name.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If we're all stuck here together, might as well introduce ourselves, right?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Oh, yeah, that's right.

**Takahashi Yuki:** My name is Takahashi Yuki, and I'm the Super High School Level Violinist.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Nice to meet you.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nice to meet you too, Yuki-chan!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Yuki-chan...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm Fujinomiya Kotori, and I'm the Super High School Level Vocalist.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I hope we can get along!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Speaking of being stuck here... Have you seen any exits yet, Yuki-chan?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

**Takahashi Yuki:** I don't think I have, sorry...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** But then again, I haven't looked around on the whole ship yet, so there could still be one somewhere.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Huh...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well, don't worry about it. We'll probably find one sooner or later.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If it's locked, you can just rip the door off or something!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You're  _really_ tall, so you must also be really strong, right?

**Takahashi Yuki:**...I don't think I could do something like rip off a door.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Really? Are you sure?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Yes...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That's a shame...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe if you fused with Keiji-chan you'd be able to do it!

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I don't think we can do that either...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** There's no reason to lose hope just yet!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Although it probably won't be that big of a deal even if we do turn out to be trapped. The place is pretty huge.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We have food and all sorts of other cool stuff. I think I saw a music room earlier too... or something that looked like it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And there are no annoying adults around either...

**Takahashi Yuki:** This place really is big... I haven't even been to all the floors yet.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yep. It's pretty great.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Aren't you worried about what will happen if we run out food, though?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We can just catch some fish, then! That sounds like it'd be fun too.

**Takahashi Yuki:** We'd need an exit for that...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Don't sweat the small details!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm, if we can't find a way out, we should think of something else to do.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Like what?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** This is kinda like a field trip, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It won't be any fun if everyone just goes off by themselves! We need to think of something to do together like at a proper field trip.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Like playing games?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** That works too.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We can even split up into groups so people can choose things they're interested in.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** For example... You could come play some music with me!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Oh, that might be fun. I'd be okay with that.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Good! We should totally do that sometime then.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we can find more music people and form a band.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We could hold a concert then!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Have you ever held a concert, Yuki-chan?

**Takahashi Yuki:** A few times, yeah. I'm not sure if everyone here would want to come, though...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Of course they would! There's not one person in the world who doesn't like music!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you'd be up for it, right? Come on, Yuki-chan!

**Takahashi Yuki:**...Alright, trying won't hurt. Let's make some time for it one of these days if we're still here.

**Takahashi Yuki:** I think we should finish looking around first, though... There's still a chance we can just walk out.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess, but... who brought us here in the first place?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Would they really just drop us off here and let us leave?

****

**Takahashi Yuki:** Maybe it has something to do with the school...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What, like an event?

**Takahashi Yuki:** I don't really know, sorry...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** We'll find out sooner or later anyway...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I guess we should finish looking around now. We can talk more later.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's go check the upper floors, Yuki-chan.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Huh-? Okay then...

He follows me with a sheepish, somewhat confused look, but he doesn't look like he'll try to argue or anything. He more than likely does want to check the whole ship anyway...

**Event 1: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yuki-chan, Yuki-chan!

While the yelling doesn't exactly get his attention, naturally, the repeated knocking does, and it seems as though he was in the middle of tripping over himself when he opens the door.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Y-yes? Did something happen?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** No, you silly, it's nothing like that. You promised we'd play music together, right?

**Takahashi Yuki:** Oh...? I... Yeah, that's true.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Sorry, I forgot about that for a moment. The knocking was just really sudden...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's all good as long as you remember in the end!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But you're free right now, right? You promised!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's go to the concert hall!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Alright, I'm coming...

He's  _incredibly_ hard to drag, but fortunately he does cooperate so I manage somehow.

I push the door open when we arrive, shoving him inside.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Alright, let's investigate.

**Takahashi Yuki:** You haven't checked this room yet?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nope. Not that carefully, at least.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I thought it'd be more fun to do it together.

**Takahashi Yuki:** I guess that makes sense.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Okay then, let's look around.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** They have instruments at least; that's already better than nothing.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I wonder if they have any scores... There are some books in the back; what do you think?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I can play a lot of things by memory by now, but it'd be nice to try something new too.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** All the other rooms were really well-equipped... They might have some  _really_ nice things here too!

Having stopped next to a violin case earlier, he finally opens it up.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Ehe, knew it...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I wonder how much everything here cost... It's all very high quality.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oh... yeah. Who paid for all of this?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** The school, maybe?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If we really were taken here by the school, that'd make sense... but...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Can we know that for sure?

**Takahashi Yuki:** Uhm... Maybe it's one of those luxurious ships you hear about in the news...?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I've seen some of them before... They're really amazing. Some are even bigger than this one.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Oho, I see! If someone kidnapped us, they also stole the ship!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... I wanna look around more later. Maybe we can find more clues around here if we're careful enough.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Yeah... that's a good idea.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm...? What's with that kind of reaction?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It's nothing, really. You're just kind of starting to remind me of someone.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Eeh? Who?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** My little sister. I'm kind of starting to miss her.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Already? Is Takahashi-kun some dirty siscon?

**Takahashi Yuki:** E-eeh!?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Kidding. I don't have any siblings, so maybe that kind of thing is normal.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But anyway, your parents should be taking care of her, right? She's probably fine.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Ah... I hope so.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Still... my parents must be worried...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I wonder if we can contact them somehow...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we can figure something out. Try to be optimistic, 'kay?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

**Takahashi Yuki:**...I'll try...

**Takahashi Yuki:** So, since we came here to play... What should we do?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** You're a singer, right? Should we take turns, or see if we can find something we can do at once?

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's take turns. I wanna listen to you play first.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If I'm also singing, I won't be able to focus on the music properly, and I'm still really curious.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you're Super High School Level, that must mean you're  _really_ good!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Ehehe... I guess so. I hope it'll be as good as you're making it out to be.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Would you like a specific song?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm, I don't mind! You can pick whichever one you want.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Can I? Then...

He holds the pose he's taken up, ready to start playing any moment now.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** There's a song my mom really likes. Let me show you...

And he begins playing.

**Event 2: Cleared**

* * *

We've gone to the concert hall a few more times after the last time - he's gotten into a habit of playing a bunch of different songs each time, albeit always starting with the same one. It's the one he plays for his mom whenever he visits her, isn't it? It's pretty easily recognisable.

He seems kind of melancholic whenever he plays it.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, Yuki-chan... Why do you look so sad whenever you play that song?

His hand stops, and he looks genuinely confused at first before he lowers his hands.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Do I...? I'm not really sad right now, though.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm... Maybe sad isn't the right word.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It's just something I noticed a while ago.

**Takahashi Yuki:** Are you worried...?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It's nothing serious... Or, well... It's nothing you can help.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So you were sad after all!

**Takahashi Yuki:** Ah-!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I see right through you, Yuki-chan. You're like an open book to me.

And pretty much to everyone else around you...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So? What's wrong?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I think at least talking about it should make you feel better.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It's alright... Complaining in this situation would only be a problem for everyone else...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** You guys all have your own things to worry about, right? I don't want to be just another burden.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You say that, but this wouldn't really make you a burden.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Everyone here is complaining about everything all the time anyway. We're all pretty used to it.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Do you really wanna bottle everything up  _that_ much?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Besides, I've no problems of my own. Not right now, at least... So you can talk to me without being a big baby about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Well?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** But... you won't tell anyone else, right?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If you don't want me to, I won't. It's not like I talk to many of them so that won't be hard.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...Okay...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Is it something with your mom?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Ah-

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You said she really likes this song, right? I'm just guessing based on that.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...I did say that.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Mm... I play it for her whenever I see her.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Does she live separately?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** She's, uhm... at a hospital.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I try to visit her often, although... it's kind of impossible right now.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...She's a terminal patient.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Takahashi Yuki:**...I knew you'd give me a look like that...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I've known it for a long time. You don't have to feel sorry for me.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...That's hard to follow, Yuki-chan...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You probably want to get out of here soon, then, right?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It'd be nice...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Maybe we should look around on the ship again. There  _might_ be a hidden exit somewhere... It's not like everyone here is incredibly observant.

**Takahashi Yuki:** An exit...?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Yes!

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You shouldn't give up hope, Yuki-chan. Maybe we just need to look more carefully than before.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I didn't check every single room either... So even if  _I_ didn't, someone else could've still missed it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Let's do it tomorrow morning so we'll have plenty of time to look everywhere, okay?

**Takahashi Yuki:** Are you sure...? You're okay with staying here, right?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Wouldn't it be just trouble for you?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Nope! We can try to make it fun too!

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Come on, Yuki-chan! Say yes, say yes!

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...Okay. But please don't strain yourself too much, alright?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Even if we don't find an exit right away... maybe we'll be found by someone instead.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mmm! I'm sure everything will be okay, so you shouldn't worry about it. It's bad for your brain if you stress too much!

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...Thank you.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Tomorrow, then... Where would you like to meet beforehand?

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** The cafeteria will work, I guess. We need to have breakfast anyway so might as well.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** The cafeteria... Yes, that'll work. I'll wait for you there, then.

****

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or  _I'll_ wait for  _you_ because I'm faster.

He lets out a soft chuckle.

**Event 3: Cleared**

* * *

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hey, Yuki-chan... Where do you think we should go next?

**Takahashi Yuki:** Only the fifth floor is left, right? It's not like we have that many choices...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I don't really know if we can unlock that one door either...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** So pessimistic... This isn't like you at all, Yuki-chan.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Or... maybe it's exactly like you. I can't really tell...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** In any case, let's at least try to get it open.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If all else fails, you can combine with Keiji-chan like I suggested!

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

He walks up to the door himself, first giving it a gentle push, as though expecting it to open up just like that all of a sudden. It looks very,  _very_ silly, but it doesn't seem like he's bothered by that.

**Takahashi Yuki:**...It's supposed to open with a card key, right? So we can't just pick the lock...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You know how to pick locks?

**Takahashi Yuki:** N-no, of course not.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I was just thinking there might really be no way of opening this without the card key for it...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Hmm... The door is made of metal, so we probably can't break it...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Ooh, what if we tried melting it? We could probably find equipment for that!

**Takahashi Yuki:** I think that might be a little too dangerous...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** It won't be if we're careful about it!

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Please don't be so reckless, Fujinomiya-san...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I'm not being reckless... I'm just trying to fulfill my promise.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You won't mind that, right? You wanna find a way out of here, right?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I do, but... even I know there are times when there's nothing you can do.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It's frustrating, and it makes you feel terrible... but that's just how it is, in the end.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But how do you know that you can't do anything if you don't even try...?

He averts his gaze, fiddling with the buttons on his jacket.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...I'm sorry. I'm not sure what's up with me today.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Let's just... drop the topic, okay?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** I was right after all. This isn't like you, Yuki-chan.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** What's wrong?

**Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You wouldn't have said something like this before...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** And you've been really down the whole day today too...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Have you really given up this much...?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...No, that's not it.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I just... have something on my mind that I probably shouldn't.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Please forget everything I said.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** I can't just forget it just because you told me to...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** That negative way of thinking... I know it's no good.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It really isn't like me to be saying these kinds of things...

**Takahashi Yuki:** I'll be back to normal in a bit, don't worry.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why are you so afraid of relying on other people, Yuki-chan?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** You don't have to put on a front all the time... It's okay to be honest with how you feel.

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Please?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** It's... okay, really. I know I'd just end up being a burden in the end.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I want to be relied on... instead of being someone who's always relying on others.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I'm sorry...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Why are you so stubborn about this...?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...

 **Takahashi Yuki:** A long time ago... I lost someone very important to me.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** They weren't able to depend on me... and... honestly, I still feel horrible about it.

 **Takahashi Yuki:** I don't want that to happen again... so I must become the kind of person who can help others, instead of having to be helped out.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** If it's really that important to you... then I guess there's nothing I can do about it.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** But... please remember this, Yuki-chan.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** If there ever comes a time when you can't shoulder everything all by yourself... you can talk to me.

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Because... friends are supposed to be able to count on each other. Got it?

 **Takahashi Yuki:**...Thank you.

**Fujinomiya Kotori:** You shouldn't be thanking me just yet. I still have to fulfill the promise I made to you, remember?

 **Takahashi Yuki:** Ahaha...

Although... even if your wish came true, it's already too late for that.

Even if I wanted to be lenient for a change, it would only cause more trouble for you.

But you don't know that yet, do you? No, there's no way you would...

Even so... Even if this will be undone soon enough...

Maybe I can make you happy just this once. This world can become anything you wish it to be, after all...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:**...

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Actually... There's a way for you to see your mom.

**Takahashi Yuki:** A-ahh...? What do you mean?

 **Fujinomiya Kotori:** Mono will show you.

Before he can respond, the door behind him opens, said cat waiting inside.

Be thankful, Yuki-chan. This is the first and last exception I'll make.

...

...I want to see my mom...

**Event 4: Cleared**

**Error: Event 5 Not Found**

**Item acquired: Takahashi's Undergarments**

****

They're nothing special; he doesn't seem like the type to even remember what he'd put on in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~mm-chan has a soft spot for mommas boy~~  
>  aaAAAND IM DONE  
> ill def write a sequel cuz ive already got way too many ideas for it but ill take my time w it since i gotta make sure to plan out everything v carefully so i dont leave any plotholes  
> (im never using sprites again fhkjf theyre such a pain)  
> on another note i finally managed to finish v3 myself after swimming in the sea of Spoilerland and im Overwhelmed


End file.
